The Prophets
by Docnerd89
Summary: Long before the extraordinary Kate Beckett entered his life, Martha Rodgers had introduced him to the word. It took him a while to understand just what 'extraordinary' meant. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**The Prophets**

Richard Castle always had a very active imagination. Everyone who knew him would say as much – his mother, his teachers right from kindergarten up to more senior classes, his friends, his peers; everyone.

Martha Rodgers liked to think that her son, Richard Alexander Rodgers, had inherited his impressive imagination from her, but even she admitted that while the flare for dramatics had surely come from her chromosomes, his imagination was entirely his own. It surprised her just how his mind didn't merely blend in with surrounding thoughts and words, but it went beyond the invisible boundaries. To Richard Rodgers, all things were magical and fantastic. The world, the people in it were a mystery he wanted to solve. Not only did he create beautiful thoughts and stories, but he did not hesitate to share them with the world. He always did well in his English lessons. He always did well in any kind of group activities. Oh yes, little Rick Rodgers was the apple of everyone's eye. Sometimes he was the rotten apple – according to the more orthodox and close-minded teachers usually, but he definitely was the center of attraction.

Keeping these things in mind, it didn't surprise her very much when she was called to the principal's office one day for a matter pertaining to one of his well woven tales. When she got to the Mr. Schwartz's office she turned on her charm. He'd definitely inherited that from her, she thought. "Oh Mr. Schwartz, what has Ricky done this time?" she said with an expression that perhaps sought to gain sympathy.

Mr. Schwartz gave a sympathetic smile and said "Well Mrs. Rodgers - "

"Please dear, call me Martha. Mrs. Rodgers makes me feel old and married. Neither of which is the case." If her charm was working, she was definitely going to use it. She did have to get back to work. Granted it was a small role, but a role is a role and she would give it her all.

"Okay, Martha" the principal said with a smile while Richard sat on the chair besides Martha looking slightly horrified and slightly proud at his mother's evident attempts at flirtation. "Rick here has been telling a rather tediously concocted tale about two of our teachers" he said and then turned to Rick before adding, "rest assured son, that Mr. Philip and Ms. Thorne are not having secret romantic meetings in the gym after school hours and even if they were, it would not be your business to know of it, and definitely not to spread it around."

Rick lowered his head and mumbled an apology. "Richard Alexander Rodgers!" Martha croaked rather dramatically, "How could you? My son engaging in gossip and lies?" Richard thought that this was rather ironic statement coming from his mother and turned to her with a confused look adorning his face. Or at least, he was confused until he saw the tiny, infinitesimally quick wink. He fought hard not to chuckle and to continue looking ashamed instead. "Oh Mr. Schwartz, it's all my fault. I have failed him as a mother. It's so hard raising a young boy alone in today's world." She added a pretty convincing sniff or two.

"Now, now Mrs. – I mean Martha. Please don't say that. He is an exceptional young man. He does so well in most of his classes, in fact, in almost all but math. You've done a fantastic job, especially considering that you've done it alone." He turned again to Rick, "Richard, I'm sure this won't happen again. Am I right?"

"Yes, sir Mr. Schwartz. I sincerely regret it and I promise not to make up stories about our teachers again. I think – that is if you think it's okay, sir – that I should apologize to Mr. Philip and Ms. Thorne as well." Rick said looking at his principal, and then he turned to his mother. "Please don't cry, mother. I'm sorry. You're a fantastic mother."

"See Martha, it'll all be alright. And I think it's a very good idea to apologize to them, Richard. I think that the point has gotten through. Thank you for coming in, Martha."

"Oh, of course, Mr. Schwartz" Martha said with a hand shake. As Rick started to leave and make his way outside, he heard Mr. Schwartz say, "Please Martha, call me John. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to call me. I'd like to say that I hope not to ever see you in here again, but I'd be lying. Well, maybe not in here. I'd love to have a coffee with you sometime."

A well placed giggle and a few muffled words later, his mother joined him outside the principal's office. "Well dear, I think that went rather well", she said with a smile.

"Yes, mother. A stellar performance as usual."

"Thank you dear. Now, as much as I love your wonderful stories, I'd rather appreciate it if they didn't drag me all the way down here. Keep real people out of it, boy. Or at least change the names."

"Yes, something to keep in mind for the future, for sure. I do really wonder about them you know. The looks they share, it inspired me to think in that direction" he said seriously. "But you're not angry?"

She chuckled at his use of the word 'inspiration'. "No, I'm not angry. I'm proud of you Richard. Part of that was not an act. It is difficult to raise a person single handedly, but I do not regret it in the least. And you've turned out rather well, if I do say so myself."

"Thanks mom" he beamed, as did she. She rarely got to hear him say 'mom'. He usually stuck with 'mother', not that she minded it, but 'mom' was good to hear.

"Don't allow anyone to try to shut your creativity in a box, Richard. It's what makes you different, special and I daresay, extraordinary. Now, I have to get back to work. Buh-bye darling." She parted after ruffling his hair and left him standing alone, trying to straighten it out.

'Extraordinary. What a quaint word.' Richard thought as he ran his hands through his hair and set off towards his next class.

He was too young then to understand the depths of what his mother meant. At the time he was invested in using his charm and knowledge for the boyish purposes of getting girlfriends and impressing his peers. As he grew older he focused his powers – as he liked to think of them – into more endearing acts like becoming the head of his college newspaper team, getting into as many special clubs and making as many useful contacts as he could; he still did not think of what his mother had told the younger version of himself. When he published his first novel, and yes he'd written many half stories before it; but when he published his first novel, it was a small success. Looking back on it, it wasn't his best and now it made him cringe sometimes. But still, he built on his little successes, grew as an author. He never tired of learning and acquiring more knowledge. He worked hard to keep things authentic; he partied harder to enjoy his well earned fame. He sobered his lifestyle when his daughter was born. Most certainly an angel in his life, he often thought. He worked even harder to give her the best life and more importantly to make her a better person than he thought he was. Alexis turned out far better and beyond what he'd ever dreamt. She often led him to wonder about what he had done so right, to have such an angel grace his life. But he did not look back very often on his school days. No, Richard Rodgers did not think back on his mother's words, but Richard Castle did.

Oh yes, Richard Castle finally understood what his mother meant when she called him extraordinary because so many years after that day in school, he thought of no better word to fit the bill. No better word to describe the girl – nay, the woman who seemed to be nothing short of an unsolvable mystery. She was unlike any of the other women in his life so far. She did nothing to win his heart rather she tried hard to push him away. Eventually she quit trying to push him away and just tried her best to keep him at an arm's length. He had had his doubts right from the start about her. She claimed that she was not a fan of his work, but he knew that none but the best of his fans had read some of his work that she had clearly read. She pretended to be immune to his charm and maybe she was immune to the overt show he put on for his fan base, but she was not immune to the charm he innately possessed. The charm he only used on her. He thought for long while that this particular charm, the real Richard Rodgers, was breaking down her immunity towards him, slowly but surely.

He was starting to doubt this very charm though. How could someone be _so_ immune to it? The ridiculous woman. The ridiculous, frustrating, gorgeous, intelligent, woman with a heart of gold. What would he have to do to earn a simple hug? Apparently he had to diffuse bombs. It wasn't everyday they came across bombs though. He had to save the world to earn a nudge. The only redeeming fact was that she couldn't stop her eyes from baring the truth. She could deny it all she wanted through her words but not through her eyes. In the few years that he knew her, she was letting her guard down with the little things. He'd definitely seen some kind of weird progress – if you could call it that – after the shooting. She had this way about her. When she spoke to the families of the victims, she was one of them. When she spoke to her boys, she was one of the guys. When she spoke to Lanie, she was a best friend. When she spoke to him though, she was different. Sometimes she'd school her features exactly to fit her words, like she was in control of every single muscle on her face. At other times she would show him exactly how she felt without needing to say a word. He knew though, that whatever the case may be, he somehow had the unique ability of knowing how she felt and what she was thinking– whether she was baring her soul or using her best poker face. He also knew that she knew this too, though she might never admit it.

So yes, the doubt was creeping in but he was the extraordinary Richard Castle and she was the extraordinary Katherine Beckett. His extraordinary Kate Beckett. And he'd be damned if he'd let her get away. His mother had taught him well. He would not give up – not through the secrets, not through the heart break, not through the lies, nor for her walls, nor for her stubbornness, nor for his recklessness. He would not allow her to try to keep this extraordinary relationship in a box, not when it was so beautiful even before it was allowed to grow. He had written enough fictional stories but he had lived a stranger life. He'd written the most fantastic dangers for his characters, but he'd been through worse, fearing not only for himself but for the one's he loved. Now was the time, he decided, to write their story. But more importantly, now was the time he'd have to reel her in to write it along with him; to write it for the rest of their lives.

**A/N: This is a one shot for now. It's only my second story, so I'd love to hear criticism or any kind of review that you'd like to leave. If anyone would like me to continue, I do have an idea of what to do with it. Let me know. : ). I sincerely hope you enjoyed this. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Castle. I make no profit out of writing this except that it makes me happy.

Chapter 2

On one fine summer afternoon, Martha came home with her new boyfriend Chad Winchester, hoping to spend the rest of the day together with him on the couch. With the windows cracked open to allow the whisper of a breeze to sweep through the small living room and with the lovely Mr. Winchester whispering sweet nothings which felt as fresh as the cool breeze, Martha lost track of time. It was early in the evening when Richard came home. He glanced towards the couch and waved to them as a form of a quick hello before making his way to his room. Martha noticed that even though Richard gave them a polite smile, it did not reach his eyes like his smiles usually did and also that his shoulders were slumped.

She excused herself from Chad, knowing that her son needed her even though he may not think that he did. Only when she entered his room after a quick knock did she realize that the situation might be a little more serious than usual, because her son was looking sadly out his window with his head resting on his hand. He looked defeated and she didn't like it one bit.

"What's wrong Richard?", she asked softly.

"Nothing's wrong mother. Everything is absolutely fine and dandy!", he replied when he realized she was in there. He hadn't even noticed her coming in.

"Everything is about as fine as the fish bone that almost choked your uncle to death. The man must have been blind to not see it. The size of a toothpick it was. So again I ask, what's wrong?" she said as she gingerly sat on the edge of his bed.

"Amy", he whined.

"I didn't really get that mind-readers license darling, you're going to have to give me more than that."

"We broke up, mother." He said with a sigh.

"Oh Richard, I'm sorry. I thought things were going strong between the two of you. What happened?"

"I thought they were too. Apparently that was what was wrong. She didn't want to be in a 'stable relationship'", he said while his fingers made air quotes.

"It's her loss, darling. Who wouldn't want a charming young lad like you? You're a keeper, Richard, and don't you forget it."

"You're just saying that because you're my mother" he said with his sight now glued to the floor.

"Well, sure I am. It's maternal instinct. But I'm not saying it just because of that. I'm saying you're a keeper, Richard, because you are a handsome, incredibly intelligent boy – although sometimes you can be rather foolish – and because you put your heart into everything you do. I don't know anyone who's so genuinely happier in giving than receiving and I don't know anyone as trusting and caring as you. I don't know where you got it from, but you should keep it forever and when the right girl comes along, she'll be smart enough to want to keep you forever."

"Wow mother, that was deep" he said with a chuckle.

"Ah yes, I can be deep" she said, and then added with a glint in her eyes "If you ask Chad, I'm sure he'll agree." It looked like she was fighting back tears. She was; just that they were tears of laughter. Not that Richard understood it at the time. He chalked it up as being some weird womanly display of emotion.

Before he had a chance to say anything, she said "I'll deny I ever said this Richard, so don't even try to let it leave these walls. Women like to be chased, and sometimes they don't even know it. Unfortunately, men are equally dense and don't know they're supposed to chase them."

"So, you're saying that I should run all over campus chasing Amy?" he said with his brows furrowed.

She clucked with a shake of her head. He might be on the denser side after all. "I'm saying that you should try to persuade her, within limits; to show her that you're worth the trouble that comes along with a relationship. Flowers, chocolate, something with a more personal touch –use your imagination Richard, it's your best asset after all."

"Yeah" he said, nodding his head and gaining confidence. "Yeah, I can do that. I can win her over. Thank you, mother." She patted his head before returning to Chad.

He'd made a plan and followed through successfully. Even the reluctant Amy couldn't say no to his flowers and letters professing his love. A few weeks of courting were all it took for both of them to realize that their young love was not meant to be after all. But he learnt a few important lessons out of it. He learnt the difference between infatuation and love. He learnt that women like to be chased and sometimes – mostly – they didn't know it. Over the years he learnt that sometimes chasing too much leads to losing the chase or getting shoes chucked at him. He learnt that sometimes he needed to push and sometimes he needed to back-off. But most of all, he learnt that he shouldn't give up when he really believed in something – whether that something was a woman, an object or his career. Not trying would lead to him definitely losing something he might never have dreamt of whereas trying might not work but then again it just might. When it would work, it could give him so much more than he'd ever dreamt – the possibilities were endless, even with his far-reaching imagination. It seemed simple enough to him. If he didn't try, he'd surely fail; if he did try at least he had a chance.

* * *

><p>Richard Castle decided that he would not give up. He would try his best to win the heart of the woman he loved. 'Women like to be chased, and sometimes they don't even know it', his mothers words echoed in his head. Kate Beckett was putting up quite a challenge. Heck, she'd been running so fast that he'd lost his breath while chasing her, not once but several times. 'I'll just have to run faster then. I'm going to catch her if it's the last thing I do, and then we can sprint together', he thought. His run-away imagination quickly took over, sending him images of her sprinting in her NYPD sweats looking back over her shoulder and smirking at him as if challenging him to catch up. Oh, he so would, he thought once more, and even if he couldn't for some reason – not that he'd ever let that happen – he'd at least chase her till she was completely exhausted, enough to stop running from him.<p>

He ducked under the yellow tape which one of the officers had so kindly raised for him. Both his hands were occupied, holding two steaming cups of coffee. He handed one over as he came to stand beside her. They were in an alley between two buildings, both about eight stories tall.

"Hey Castle."

"Hello detective. What are we looking at today?" he asked her.

"Espo was just about to tell us" she said.

"Yup" said detective Esposito, "Our victim is a Caucasian male, looks to be in his mid-thirties, identity unknown, was found by a passer-by who was jogging along this route. CSU didn't find any wallet; we have no way to verify his identity as of now. They'll take his prints, check dental records and the rest. But right now, this is all we have."

Ryan said, "We have a team searching the dumpsters close-by for his wallet or a possible weapon – the usual drill. Nothing so far."

It looked to Castle, like the area around the body was drying up from being wet and it smelled strongly of bleach and probably some other chemicals, a fact that the rest of them agreed with.

"Someone tried to clean up the murder using bleach? Why wouldn't they just move the body?" he asked.

"I guess that's what we have to figure out, Castle" Beckett said with an eye roll.

She turned to her best-friend, who was so far silently examining the body, "What do you see, Lanie?"

"From my preliminary examination, I'd put time of death at sometime around yesterday afternoon" the ME replied.

"He's been like this for almost 24 hours and no-one noticed up until this morning?" Castle asked incredulously.

"Yes, well, if you'd let me finish writer-boy, I can tell you more" she snapped.

"Right. Sorry" he said with a smile.

"As I was saying, he died sometime around yesterday afternoon. If you look here – " she pointed to the nape of his neck, "- you can see that there's signs of blunt force trauma. And if you look closely, you can see slight indentations – what seem to be teeth marks – a little lower on his back."

"Someone bit him? C.O.D is cannibalism?" Castle said while rocking enthusiastically on his heels, earning him yet another eye-roll from Beckett. "What? It's not that far-fetched." He shrugged.

"It's not what killed him. In fact, the bite-marks – actually just the one place – occurred post-mortem."

"Necrophagia?" he gasped. "ZOMBIES!" he said almost shouting. "Gather the twinkies!"

"Ease up there, Tallahassee. It's not the zombie apocalypse yet." Beckett told him. For some reason that she couldn't quite comprehend, that made him look at her with a mixture of surprise and adoration on his face.

"You've seen Zombieland?" he asked her.

Lanie cleared her throat. "If you two are done being cute, I'll go on. C.O.D is not zombies, cannibalism or the blunt force trauma. It's the two stab wounds to his torso" she said while lifting the body enough so they could see where the blade had entered through his otherwise white shirt, the area around it being surrounded by a large patch of blood; before lowering it back. "And no Castle, I can't explain the bite-marks yet, but if you suggest zombies one more time, I'm going to make sure you turn into one." She said with a glare which seemed to shut Castle up for the moment.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of her bed" Castle said in a stage whisper while avoiding eye-contact with Lanie.

"So, two stab wounds which are the probable cause of death, a bite mark on his back, blunt force trauma to the back of his head and neck and no blood besides what's on his shirt." Beckett summarized.

"That's probably the result of whatever chemicals they used. We'll get CSU to figure out exactly what they are."

"Okay guys", she said "Wrap things up over here and get back to the precinct. Let's try to figure out who this guy is first." She and Castle headed back to her Crown Vic. To her surprise, he stopped at her side. She wondered whether he was never going to give up asking if he could drive but unlocked the car anyway. She was about to say something smart, opening her mouth to do so but instead nothing came out and she remained slightly gaping at him. He had opened the door for her, closed it once she got in and then made his way to his own side.

She looked confused while he tried to hide his smirk. "I can open my own door, Castle."

"Oh, I know you can, Kate and until the day you do, I'm building windows for you."

"What?" she asked, thoroughly nonplussed.

He responded with just a smile and when she realized that he wouldn't say more, she started the car and headed to the precinct.

**A/N:** Thank you for the follows/favorites. Special thanks to squarenine, klindsay and JasmineBelle7 for the great reviews – I was smiling like a dope. Leave me a review to let me know what ya'll think so far. I figured I'd make it so that his skill with innuendo ran in the family, hence the 'I'm deep' comment from Martha. The window thing.. Well, it's subtext – duh – we need that with Caskett, don't we? Want more? Just say the word.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** This is a case-fic-y chapter, but unlike my other story, there's going to be a good bit of Caskett in this one. Also, thank you again to klindsay, JasmineBelle7 and squarenine, for your reviews and squarenine for your undying love-hate for the un-dead. Zombieland is my favorite Zombie movie too. Please let me know what you all think. I'd love to hear it, whatever it is. Thanks for the follows and favorites. You guys rock.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Castle. The people who *do* are doing a fine job with it.

Chapter 3

They had work to do once they got back to the precinct. Calls had to be made, reports had to be collected, paperwork had to – well, that could wait a while. Beckett repeated everything they had so far to Captain Gates. She might have left out Castle's early theories however.

She headed over to the murder board instead of the desk and smiled when she saw Castle standing there looking at it too. She'd push out his last comment for the time being. They had to focus, and if he wasn't telling her what he had meant, she'd wait for a more free time to figure it out.

A little while later they were joined by Ryan and Esposito. Ryan spoke first, "Hey. CSU ran the prints and got a hit. Zombie munch's name is Jake Brown, 35 year old accountant – lives at Lexington and 3rd, works from home. Don't know what the hell he was doing down here. Closest and only living relative is his sister Mrs. Janet Dawson."

"He could have been visiting a client." Esposito said.

"Could be, but I doubt it" Castle said, "I still can't figure out why he was doused in that stuff. Did CSU figure out what it was?"

Ryan answered, "Yeah. They said it's some kind of mixture of concentrated chemicals. Bleach was one of them, which explains the smell. It was really tough to get decent prints actually. Some of the chemical-stuff got onto him too, although most of it was in the area around him, rather than on him."

"But it looked like his clothes were damp too" Beckett said.

Esposito said "Yeah, they said that that wasn't from the chemicals. They're analyzing that again, just to be sure, but they think it's just water."

"So, they dumped the concoction around him, but not on him and then they – what? Watered him?" He asked with a bemused expression.

"Don't know, bro" Esposito said with a shrug, "These people don't make the most sense. Anyway, the bite-mark was photographed and is being run through the data-bases. They said that they'll get back to us as soon as possible."

Ryan said "We also found a wallet in a dumpster near-by. It was empty when we found it, but it has his finger prints on it, so it's definitely his."

"It could be a mugging gone wrong?" Castle

"That's a possibility" Beckett agreed, "Okay, good job guys. Go through his financials, phone records. Try to figure out why he was there in the first place. Castle and I will go break the news to his sister."

With that, the guys headed back to their desks while Castle and Beckett left the precinct to find Mrs. Janet Dawson once they got her address.

When they got to the Crown Vic, Castle repeated his feat from this morning. She'd already decided to push it aside for now, because they had places to go and things to do. But she would confront him later for his strange behavior. It irked her more because he just smiled and shrugged it off.

They reached her apartment; a swanky one it was. Janet Dawson was definitely doing well in life.

"Mrs. Dawson? I'm detective Kate Beckett from the NYPD; this is my partner Richard Castle. We need to talk to you, can we come inside?"

"Uh – sure." She said as she let them in. "What's this about?"

"Mrs. Dawson, I'm from the homicide division. This is about your brother – Jake. We're sorry to inform you that he was found dead this afternoon." She said softly as Janet Dawson began to cry.

"You- you said you're from homicide." She said between sobs. "He was murdered?"

"Yes, Mrs. Dawson. I know this is a difficult time, but if we're going to find out who murdered him we need to ask you a few questions."

"Oh. Of- of course." She said while wiping away her tears.

"Do you know if Jake was having any sort of trouble lately? Would anyone want him dead?"

"I – no. I don't think so. He was working with a firm earlier, but he'd left it a while back to start his independent venture. He'd earned a few clients through word of mouth. In fact, far from trouble, he recently told me that – that he'd hit the jack pot."

"What do you mean?" Castle asked.

"I'm not sure, but he said that he'd found a client who was sure to provide him with a steady income for the rest of his life. He spoke about the vacation that he would soon be able to afford and other such things. I asked him who this big-time client was, but he refused to tell me. He said that his client didn't want anyone to know that Jake was working for him. I found it a bit fishy at first, but he explained that a lot of celebrities, politicians, high-profile people in general like to keep these things private. It didn't seem like I was going to get an answer, so I dropped it."

"But he didn't have any other sort of problems?"

"Not big enough to get him killed. Can – can you tell me how he –?" She didn't seem to be able to finish.

"He was stabbed twice and probably bled out. His wallet was taken."

She shook and cried more before asking "So, it could have been a mugging?"

"Yes, it could have been. But there are other things that led us to believe that it wasn't."

"Okay. Uh – thank you detective. If that's all, I'd like to go tell my husband and figure out what we have to do now."

"Yes, that's all for now. If you can think of anything else that might be useful, Mrs. Dawson, please give me a call. We'll call you if we need to." Beckett handed her the card and they left.

Once they got into the Crown Vic – and yes, Castle opened the door yet again – and started off, she sighed audibly.

"Doesn't get easier, does it?" Castle asked her softly.

He always knew what was on her mind. "It's never easy, Castle. Never should be" she said. He nodded and much to her surprise placed his hand on hers and just swiped his thumb over it before taking it back. She looked at him quizzically, but he just smiled, so she returned the smile and got back to driving.

* * *

><p>Back at the precinct they updated the murder board yet again. Ryan and Esposito brought them up to speed with what they'd found. It was a busy afternoon full of phone calls, looking into phone logs and checking up on his financials but it had paid off. Ryan asked, "Hey, did you two find out anything new?"<p>

"Apparently Brown had recently gotten himself a high-profile, well-paying client." Beckett replied.

"Well that fits. We ran through his financials. Being an accountant, he seems to have kept everything in line, up until the last couple of months. He's been getting a steady payment since then. None of these payments were too big; we wouldn't have caught it if we weren't looking over it with a fine toothed comb."

Esposito said "They're all coming from the same source. We tried to trace it back, but it looks like it's coming from an off-shore account. We won't know until tomorrow."

"Alright guys. I think this is all we can expect from today. We don't know more than Lanie's preliminary report either, so we'll have to wait on the rest. I think we should call it a day."

Both the detectives nodded in assent and set off. She turned to wear her own jacket, only to notice that Castle was already holding it out for her. She considered him with narrowed eyes, but let him help her into it nonetheless. He helped get her hair out from under the jacket and she noticed that his fingers trailed a fraction longer than necessary while straightening out the collar. After he was done, he put on his own jacket and started for the elevator without comment. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd set up some elaborate prank. It wouldn't be that hard to believe.

* * *

><p>They'd parted ways earlier. This left Beckett alone with her thoughts, in her apartment – alone. With no more to go on for the case she couldn't even build more on theories – alone. The quiet in her apartment and the screaming in her brain allowed her to ponder further about what Richard Castle was up to. She'd thought of several scenarios. Maybe it was a prank after all; maybe he was trying to get back at her for the whole 'curse of the mummy' thing. But surely it's been far too long ago for it to be that. She thought and she thought, and then thought some more, until she couldn't take it anymore. She'd already changed into more comfortable clothes – a jersey and jeans. She put on her jacket, took her keys and was on her way to Castle's.<p>

She knocked quietly at first, it wasn't too late in the night, but she didn't want to disturb anyone. When she got no answer, she knocked louder and still no one came. She finally gave up and rang the bell. Then she heard running, and finally saw the door being opened. He was slightly out of breath and covered in sweat. When he saw who it was, he let her in and immediately gathered her up in a hug. Looking at the state of him, without a thought, she hugged him back.

"Rick, what's going on? What's wrong?"

"I was just about to ask you the same. What brings you here at this hour?" he asked as he pulled back but didn't release her, instead sliding his arms to her waist. She mirrored his actions.

"I just came to talk to you. If nothing's wrong, why do you look like you've just run a marathon?"

He chuckled. "That's pretty close. I was exercising on the treadmill."

"I – uh – okay, then why'd you hug me?"

"You hugged me back" he pointed out "I like hugs." He shrugged. She withdrew her arms and crossed them. 'Defensive posture, uh-oh' he thought.

"You like hugs." She glared at him. "Okay. What is this? What are you up to?"

He crossed his arms too. "I don't know what you're talking about, Kate. What's what? I'm not up to anything."

"Yeah, right" she snorted. "You've been doing this all day and I can't understand why. Just come clean already."

"Doing this all day? Gee, what _ever_ do you mean?"

"You're going to make me say it? Arrrgh. Fine. This – you've been opening doors, helping me with my jacket, holding my hand and now you hugged me."

"And you hugged me back." He said with a smirk. She was getting irritated and it was starting to show, mostly in her glare. "Women complain all the time that chivalry is dead. Here I am, trying to be chivalrous and I'm getting glared at."

"Oh? And what brought on this chivalry?"

"I'm building you windows."

"Castle – " she said as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What are you even talking about? You're starting to give me a headache."

He sighed. "That won't do at all. Fine, I'll tell you. Let's get you out of this jacket first. Have you eaten?"

"Yeah." She didn't realize that she was still standing near the door in her jacket. She took it off, and then her shoes and then headed for the couch. "Where are Martha and Alexis, by the way?"

"Alexis is at Paige's house for the night and mother is – well, I don't know, but she's not coming home tonight. You'll have coffee with me?"

They were alone. Oh.

"Yeah, sure, I guess. Did you say you were exercising on the treadmill?" she asked, confused "When did you get a treadmill?"

He answered her as he prepared the coffee, "Ever since Alexis has been thinking about med school, she's been lecturing the rest of us to get healthier. It's turned out pretty well though. It helps me think clearly." As he made his way out of the kitchen, he couldn't help but smile. She looked great in everything, but there was just something special about seeing her sans make up, dressed simply in casual clothes. He handed her the cup and took a seat besides her.

"Sooo.." she drawled after taking a sip. "What's with this building me windows stuff?"

He smiled and took a deep breath, ready to explain. "You have a wall up. It's going to take a while for it to come down, or for you to build a door if you wish to."

Her wall. That's what this was about. "Oh – Castle –"

He put down his cup and hers and took her hand in both of his, looked her in the eyes and said "No, Kate. Let me finish. I don't care how long it takes you to do it, I've been waiting and I'll keep waiting. In the meantime though, I'm building you windows so that you get to catch glimpses of what lies on the other side; so that you get fresh air to make it easier for you to breathe; so that I can reach in if things come to that point or that you could reach out to me when and if you want or need to."

She didn't know what to say. She might not have been able to say it if she did know anyway. She was fighting back tears – of joy, sadness, affection, lo-.

He wasn't done yet. "Kate, when the wall does come down, things aren't miraculously going to fall in place. We're still going to have to work for it. I'm just giving us a head start, assuming you want me on the other side of course."

It was the first time he sounded uncertain, and she didn't like it. She nodded almost imperceptibly. "It's not going to be easy. I'll probably keep fighting you even if I don't really want to."

She didn't say no. She didn't say no and he was over the moon. A negative-negative made him so happy that he couldn't help but wonder about when the positives would strike. He smiled and got a little teary himself. 'Nah' he thought 'My eyes are just sweating from the exercise too.'

"Coffee's getting cold." He nodded towards the cups as he reached for his. His right hand still kept her left hand in place, reluctant to let go.

He gave her an out. She asked him once, in a small voice "Things won't change too much, will they?"

"Some things will, some things won't. You still love your coffee, don't you?" he asked tentatively without looking at her.

"Always" she said in an almost-whisper, causing his eye to sweat a little more.

They drank their coffees in silence, not wanting to ruin the rest of the night with more questions about the limits of these new boundaries. He finally let go of her hand to help her into her jacket when she left a while later. They'd figure it out, they had time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle and I'm fairly bored of repeating the fact.

Chapter 4

Castle came to the precinct a little later than usual. It was late in the morning when he got there. He figured that she could use a bit of space – just a bit though. He passed Esposito who waved a hello to him as he ran in the opposite direction. Ryan was at his desk speaking animatedly on the phone and Beckett was at hers doing much the same. She smiled gratefully at him as he handed off her coffee and took his seat beside her. A few minutes later, she was done with the call and smiled once more after she took a far too huge sip of the near scalding coffee.

"Don't tell me this is your first cup of the day" Castle said, bemused.

"No, I had some in the break room earlier." She checked her watch, "Oh. Much earlier, now."

He smiled. "Hmm. I came at the right time then. One must not deny the fair detective her regular dosage of caffeine."

She scoffed. "I love my coffee."

She lifted her eyes to his for just a moment before dropping them back to her work and he noticed a tinge of crimson start to cover her cheeks. It took him a lot of strength to not grin the biggest grin for a statement that simple and plain. But it was never plain with them.

Instead he asked, "Any progress on the case?"

"Yes." She said, snapping back into detective mode. "The dental records were a bust. No hits there. But Lanie said she may have found something more on the body. She said she had to run a few final tests just to be sure before confirming it. I'm expecting her call any minute now actually."

"What about the offshore accounts, did we trace them to somewhere or someone connected to Brown?"

"I think so. Espo's gone to find out. Ryan's making calls to a few accountant friends of his from his old job. One of them said that he liked to brag, so he may have let slip something about this mystery client to one of them."

As if on cue, the phone rang – it was Lanie. Castle went to lean in but thought better of it when Kate's fingers seemed ready to pinch. His pout must have worked because she put Lanie on the speaker. "Hey Lanie, I've put you on the speaker. Castle's here too."

"_Hey girl, writer-boy. You won't believe what I've found. Or actually, you might, but you won't like it."_

"I was right about Zombies, wasn't I?" Castle asked seriously, making Beckett bite her cheek to avoid laughing.

"_Writer-monkey, what did I say about your Zombie-theories?" _

"To keep them to myself." He said in a sing-song voice akin to a small kid being reprimanded for being naughty. The sigh he added seemed to complete the picture.

"_That's right. No Zombies. Your vic died before we thought he did. Once I got a good look at his cells under the microscope, I saw that there was cell damage that usually results from extreme cold. That's what threw off the TOD. I can't narrow it down too accurately, but he died about 12-24 hours before we thought from the initial report."_

"That may explain why his clothes were damp?" Beckett asked.

Castle said, "Could be. He was thawing out. So he was moved to this place. That makes even less sense."

"What do you mean?"

"_Hey guys, I'm going to go add this stuff to the report, I just thought I'd call and let you know first."_

"Sure. Thanks Lanie." Beckett said. "Always a pleasure", Castle added before they cut the call.

"What did you mean?" Beckett asked again.

"You'll remember I said yesterday that it didn't make sense to douse him in bleach – that stuff – instead of just moving him from there. It definitely doesn't add up anymore if we think it's a mugging. Why would they move him here after killing him and taking his money?"

"- And where did they kill him in the first place?"

"Right. Lanie said it would be somewhere cold, so probably a freezer."

"Not again" she said, putting her palm to her forehead.

Ryan came up to her desk and the two of them filled him in. "Not another freezer, surely?"

"Unfortunately, that's the most likely place. It's not nearly cold enough on the streets yet, so I can't think of anywhere else that makes more sense."

"Huh. Well, I might have an idea where you can start looking. Or, Espo and I can do it if you guys would rather sit it out?"

Beckett smiled at his concern, "No, Kevin. I don't think we should let it get in the way of doing our jobs. I'd actually prefer if Castle and I went to check it out. Get one thing out of the way."

"As you say, boss. This time we'll know you're there too – just in case."

"Right. So what's the lead?"

"I was talking to one of his accountant buddy whom Brown spoke to just a few days ago. He'd told him about having this new client that was going to pay him big money. He didn't tell him more than we already know about the client _except_ the fact that he was in the meat business."

"What do you mean?" Castle asked quizzically. "In the meat business?" he repeated.

"Yeah, so when this guy asked Brown about what he meant, he said and I quote 'Let's just say I'll also get to have some of the best meat in town. Money and meat man, what more could a guy want?'" He read out from a pad.

"Do we know where he was talking about?"

"Yes we do."

Castle liked Ryan, he really did, but he might need to give the man a few lessons in story-telling. "Well?"

"Brown's friend loves meat and pestered him till Brown gave him an address. He gave it to me. Here –" he said, handing over the post-it to Beckett.

She read out the name which was written above the address. "Luigi's meats. Great going, Ryan. Castle and I'll head over there. Fill Espo in with the latest when he gets back here, okay?"

"Thanks and sure thing boss. Call if you need us." He said as he turned to go back to his desk.

"Oh, Castle – uh – if you don't want to go, I'd understand" she said, hoping that she didn't actually have to go alone.

"You should know by now, I'd follow you anywhere, Kate." He smiled reassuringly.

She nodded and put on her jacket. "I do. Let me just go tell Gates, before she gets a chance to bite our heads off about it later."

His gaze didn't leave her as she went towards Gates' office. She kept her smile on her way there till she reached the door. It meant a lot to him that she acknowledged it – this wasn't a lost cause after all – far from it. He donned his own jacket and joined her once she came out from Gates' office. They were headed to Luigi's now and he still kept up his chivalry, to her hidden delight.

* * *

><p>They were lucky enough to find Luigi himself at the shop, selling meat. It did look good and fresh, Castle thought.<p>

"Mr. Luigi, I'm detective Beckett from the NYPD, and this is my partner, Richard Castle. We need to talk to you. Is there somewhere private we can go to?"

"Eh – sure detective, follow me" he said as he lead them to his office. "Have a seat. What can I help you with?" he asked.

"Mr. Luigi, we're here about Jake Brown. You know him?"

"Ah, yes, of course. Jake likes his meat, so I like Jake. What about him?"

"He was murdered 3 days ago. We found his body yesterday."

He muttered a few curses in Italian. "How did this happen?"

"That's what we'd like to know Mr. Luigi. Was he just your customer, or anything more?"

"He was a special customer. My cousin recommended my shop to him when she found out about his love for meat."

"What do you mean he was a special customer?" Castle asked.

"Well, I sold to him at lower prices – almost half price actually. He is – was my cousin sister's new accountant. She asked me to make sure he got the best and I obliged. We're a close family."

"I'm sure you are. How many meat freezers do you have here?" Beckett asked.

"Just the one you passed on the way in here. But my business does well. We own a few freezers just on the outskirts of the city. A little out of the way but we import the best meats, so it's actually at a better place than in the middle of the city."

"You're the only one with access to them?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Brown was most likely killed in a freezer. This is the only connection we've got so far." She said truthfully. "Who else has access?"

"A few people from my family – my son, my cousin and a few other people I trust."

"But _you_ own them?" she asked.

"Yes, I own them."

"Okay, then I'm going to ask you for permission to search them. If you don't, I can still get a search warrant."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I don't know why he would be killed in my freezers. But if you must check, then go ahead. I'll give you the address."

Beckett took the address Luigi gave her and a written consent to search the freezers. She thanked him for his cooperation and they headed off to investigate the freezers. On the way there, they called it in. Having had too many close calls had re-introduced her to the benefits of following protocol.

"Don't you want to speak to the cousin?" Castle asked her.

"Not yet. We may not have the right freezers after all. If we find anything, that's our next lead."

"Okay" he said as they finally found the right freezers. She hesitated, standing in front of the freezer. "Hey. It's not like last time, Kate" he said while taking her gloved hand in his. She let out a breath.

"Yeah, I know" she smiled and squeezed his hand, "let's check it out." There were three freezers that belonged to Luigi. The first one was full of different kinds of meats. They didn't find anything there. The second one, though emptier, still had some meats hanging from the ceiling, but again they found nothing significant. The third one though, was empty and so it was easy for them to spot the blood stain on the ice covered floor. She took his hand again, to his surprise. He didn't wonder why though, when even he sensed a moment of déjà vu. An empty freezer, blood on the floor – the only thing different was the missing body. That and the fact that they'd left the door wide open and it remained that way.

"I guess this is it. Let's go call it in?" he asked her as he squeezed her hand.

"Yeah. We'll still have to match the blood, but that won't take time. And I really doubt that this is a coincidence."

They called it in and CSU was there soon enough. They headed back to the precinct before going to visit Luigi's cousin – Anna Boccaccio. Anna Boccaccio shared Luigi's last name, she was Luigi's cousin from his father's side. Luigi and her father were brothers; Luigi's father was a fair bit older than hers and Anna was born late in the marriage, so she was much younger to Luigi. She was just 24 years old and had only recently graduated from law-school.

* * *

><p>Back at the precinct Esposito had returned and was brought up to date with matters by Ryan.<p>

"Hey boss. I hear you guys found the freezer?"

"Hey Javi. Yes, we did. CSU is confirming it, but we're pretty sure it's where our vic was killed."

"So now we've just got to figure out what he was doing way out there."

"Right. Did you find anything?"

"Sure did. We finally got a hit on the accounts. We traced it back to a Mr. Anthony Boccaccio."

"How is he related to Anna and Luigi Boccaccio?" she asked.

Esposito looked at the papers he was holding and answered "Tony Boccaccio is Luigi's uncle and Anna's father. He's owns a small part of Luigi's business and runs his own law firm. But –"

"But?" Castle asked.

"But, we think he has an underground operation going on."

"What kind of operation?" Beckett asked.

"Drugs, from what we hear. And he's the ring leader."

"Ring leader or mafia boss?" Castle was grinning and shifting excitedly. "This is so cool!" he exclaimed.

"You may be right, for once, Castle." Beckett said, causing everyone's jaws to drop comically.

They found out Anna Boccaccio's address and number from Luigi, but he'd said that both she and his uncle were out of town, and were due back tomorrow. It was already late in the evening, so they decided to end the day there.

* * *

><p>Castle talked his way into going over to Kate's and ordering in a pizza. He wanted to tell her all about 'Omerta'. She'd already read Puzo's book, but he didn't need to know that. She would humor him.<p>

"It's a really good book you know, I highly recommend it." He said as he finished his last slice.

"Okay Castle, when I have time, I'll read it." She said. He was smiling in earnest. "You don't have to be _that_ happy about it" she said, chuckling.

"You said I was right." His smile grew.

"I said you might be right."

"Whatever, but you said it in front of the guys. You've never done that before."

"You've never been right about the mafia before."

"Hmm." He drawled and reached out for her hand. She let him take it, but reluctantly. "What's up?" he asked.

"We kind of never spoke about the exact boundaries." As she said it she noticed him looking over her shoulder. Had they already reached the level of domesticity where she was talking about something important while he was more interested in technology? That was kind of a leap. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"You have an ipod dock. I was thinking about getting one. Can I try it out?" He asked her with a smile.

She couldn't help but smile back. 'Men', she thought to herself. "Sure. Go ahead and plug it in."

He went over and did just that. He set the volume to low and let the song start. She recognized it – 'Lady in red'. "Dance with me" he said, holding out his hand to her.

"What? Castle I'm not going to – "

He shook his head and took her hand and led her away from the couch, to a more open area. He put her hands on his shoulder then slipped his own to her waist, but not too low and started swaying. "I love this song. Brings back memories."

"Good memories?" she asked, giving in and melting into his embrace and swaying along with him.

"Yeah. It reminds me of the first time I danced with this girl. Ah, Kate, she was the most breathtaking amongst all the girls there that night."

She found herself getting jealous. "Yeah?" she asked. He felt her grip tighten just the slightest bit. He smiled and went on. "Yeah. There was so much I wanted to say to her. I usually like taking the lead, you know, but with her it was different. Not only was she the most stunning woman that night, but the way she carried herself; she exuded strength and confidence."

She wanted to change the topic but found she couldn't, instead she asked "And this song was playing?" She suddenly felt like changing the song.

"No."

"Oh. Then why does it remind you of her?"

"She was wearing a beautiful red dress. I gifted it to her actually."

He couldn't mean – could he? "What did you want say to her?" She asked in a half-whisper, their cheeks now touching.

"Hmm. There's a whole lot I wanted to say; if I could tell her right now, there's one thing in particular that comes to mind."

"And what's that?"

"That for the first time in my life, I couldn't care less about who's leading. I trust her." He could feel her nose at his neck, her breathing coming faster and tickling his skin. They'd stopped swaying, he hadn't even noticed when.

"Where is she now?" she asked, coming very close to his ear.

"I'm dancing with her." He said as he started to sway again. She did too, and she held him tighter and closer than she had ever before.

They danced till the song ended. They danced for a while even after it did. When it was time to part, they both found that it was a little hard to let go. It was always hard for him, but for the first time, truly, he felt it become easier, because he realized that it was hard for her too. They bade each other a good night; sweet dreams were sure to follow. And though all he wanted to do was keep her warm in his embrace and maybe kiss her senseless, he'd follow her lead. Richard Castle went home, a happy and peaceful man.

**A/N: **Special thanks to klindsay, jasnrob, JasmineBelle7 and my intragalactic twin- squarenine. Thank you all for sticking with this so far; for the follows and favorites. Definitely makes me write quicker. I hope I'm doing a decent job with the subtext. How bout dropping a review to let me know? Also, sorry if there were any gross mistakes in this one, I was too excited to get it out.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you all for the reviews, follows, favorites. I think I'm getting better at this fluff stuff – thank you squarenine and klindsay for the constant encouragement. Hope you like this one too.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle, but soon I shall own the DVDs for the first 3 seasons. Yay!

Chapter 5

Castle woke up bright and early the next day. To say that he was happy might have been an understatement. Martha and Alexis joined him at the kitchen table, momentarily sharing a look of confusion, before asking him just what made him this chipper.

"Richard darling, what has you whistling at this hour and making us this lavish breakfast?"

He stopped whistling to answer his mother. "I don't know", a lie of course, "I just think it's going to be a great day." He added to the effect by taking and releasing a deep breath.

"Uh-huh" said Alexis, "this wouldn't have something to do with detective Beckett, would it?"

"What *ever* do you mean, darling daughter? Can't I just have a great day?" he asked innocently.

"Uh-huh" she repeated skeptically. "Grams, what do you think? Is this a Kate induced state, or what?"

"Well, it does have all the signs of being that. He's whistling, cooking; he's been writing by the looks of the laptop over there, and he's ready early."

"That's what I thought too."

Castle looked at the two of them suspiciously. It wasn't unusual for them to tease him about Beckett, but Alexis had being laying off the topic for a while. Maybe shadowing Lanie wasn't a bad idea after all.

Alexis said while picking up the last of her cheese omelet with her fork, "Gee dad, you should talk detective Beckett into dancing more often."

His eyes went comically wide, "How- how did –" he spluttered, till understanding hit him, "Lanie."

"Mhmm. Speaking of whom, I think I'll take my leave. She's expecting me soon."

Maybe shadowing Lanie wasn't a good idea after all. Martha just smiled into her glass of juice.

"This isn't fair. All the women in my life are ganging up on me!"

"Who cares? You finally danced with Kate!" Martha said, putting things in perspective, as usual.

"That's true" he smiled sheepishly, "Are you done with that?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. I have an early class today. We're studying the effects of natural light and how to make the best of it."

"That explains why you're up so early" he said as he gathered up all the plates and started rinsing them off before putting them in the dishwasher.

"She's happy for you, you know" Martha said to her son.

"Do you think so? I mean, I know I'm not making it easy on any of you. This relationship – whatever it is, it means a lot to me, mother. I'd like if all my ladies got along." He said while adjusting the settings on the dishwasher.

He was avoiding looking at her. She gave a sad smile, seeing that her son was still uncertain. "She's had a hard time accepting the fact that you're willing to put yourself in danger over and over again, Richard. But being up close and personal with things since she's been shadowing Lanie is helping her understand that detective Beckett has an important job, and that you're helping with it."

"Hmm" he grunted.

"She doesn't hate Kate, darling. Especially not after seeing how far she goes to protect you. And she's also been learning more about the two of you. She wants to see you happy just as much as you want to see her happy; and she knows that Kate is the one that'll make it happen."

"She told you that?" He asked Martha, finally looking her in the eyes.

"Not in so many words, but yes. We talked."

He put his hand on hers and said "Thank you, mother. For all the strangeness that is this relationship, I don't know what I would have done without you." He said in earnest and repeated "Thank you."

Martha blinked several times, before answering. She patted his hand, "That's what I'm here for", she smiled, "That and your liquor cabinet. You've run out of olives by the way."

He appreciated the change of subject. She *is* his mother.

* * *

><p>He got to the precinct early, two cups of coffee in hand. He handed one to Beckett as he took his seat. She thanked him and took a large gulp. How she drank coffee that hot, he'd never fathom. After a few minutes, she started to get up.<p>

"Come on, Castle. Let's go have a chat with Anna Boccaccio."

"She's here?" he asked.

"Yes, Ryan and Esposito picked her up earlier. Her father is with her too. They're waiting in the interrogation room."

"Okay, lead the way."

He followed as she entered the room and took her seat opposite the Boccaccio's. She took her time in placing the file she was carrying on the table in front of her and flipping a few pages. The girl, Castle noticed, had been crying. She probably already knew why she was here. Mr. Boccaccio on the other hand sat stone faced, with his hands intertwined.

"Mr. Boccaccio, Ms. Boccaccio, I'm detective Beckett and this is my partner, Richard Castle."

"Richard Castle, the novelist?" Mr. Boccaccio asked.

"The very same." Castle answered. He saw through the corner of his eye that Beckett was slightly irked.

"I like your novels. They're very close to – authentic. Or so I've heard."

"Thank you." Castle replied curtly. 'Heard, seen, ordered or done' he thought to himself.

"Detectives Ryan and Esposito told you why you're here. We're looking into the murder of Jake Brown."

"You're sure it's murder?" Anna asked.

"Yes, we are. There were two stab wounds, among other things."

"How can we help you?" Mr. Boccaccio asked.

Beckett directed her question to Anna, "Anna, when's the last time you spoke to Jake?"

"Uh. I'm not sure" She said, nervously glancing towards her father. "I think it was five days ago."

"Was it usual for you to go without talking for so long? We know that you were involved." Beckett said. They both noticed Anthony Boccaccio's stone face hardening just a little.

"It – we, we'd broken up recently. He was trying to reconcile, but I didn't want to listen to him and now he's – oh my God." She said wiping away the tear that rolled down her face.

"Why did you break up?"

"He was growing more distant; like he was getting bored. I told him that he was taking me for granted and that we needed to take a break. He called me up five days ago but I didn't give him a chance to talk. I was late for a meeting so I told him that I'd ring him the next day. He didn't answer, so, I didn't bother trying again. I didn't know he was going to – " she couldn't finish the sentence.

"I understand. Where did you go after the meeting?"

"Excuse me detective, are you asking her for an alibi?"

"Yes, I am. It's routine, Mr. Boccaccio. Your daughter had an affair with the victim, they'd recently broken up; two days later we find his body dumped in an alley. So yes, I'm asking for your daughter's alibi."

Castle noticed that she didn't tell them all the facts.

"I can give you my whereabouts after that meeting, but – you said he was found two days later? So I don't understand why you want my alibi from that day." Anna said.

"He was killed on the same day as your meeting. He was killed in your uncle Luigi's freezer and his body was moved the next day. We found him the day after he was moved."

"What?" Horror covered every inch of Anna Boccaccio's face. "I – I don't. I didn't kill him. You have to believe me. My friends can tell you that I was with them. The same night, pop and I went to Vegas. He wanted to cheer me up. We just got in early this morning."

"There aren't many people who have access to the freezers. Just your family, and a few others."

"That's enough, detective. Can't you see that you're getting her upset? She told you already that she has an alibi. We'll leave the information with you. You can call and find out for yourselves. The next time you want to speak to us, you will do it in the presence of our lawyer." He said firmly, as he stood. "Let's go Anna."

"Yes, pop."

Just like that, their only lead got up and left the building. Beckett and Castle made their way to the murder board.

"Something doesn't add up" Castle said after a few minutes of silence.

"How do you mean?" Beckett asked him.

"She has an alibi for the day Brown was killed and she has an alibi for the day we were supposed to think he was killed."

"Her father conveniently whisked her out of town" she added after she caught on.

"If he has an underground operation going, I bet that could arrange for Brown to be taken out. He needn't even be there to do it himself. But somehow I think that he would want to be."

"We don't know exactly what time Brown was killed and now we know Anna's alibi."

"But we don't know his."

They were theorizing and getting closer as they did. There was a mutual feeling of excitement – partly about making progress on the case and partly that they were always on the same page.

"I'm sure he could arrange for an alibi too" she said with a frown.

"Probably, but maybe evidence can tell us otherwise?"

"Yeah, I guess, now that we know what to look for, maybe we'll find something. But you think his motive is revenge for his daughter?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. We still have to figure out why he was suddenly getting all that money."

"Right – " she was interrupted by her phone "Beckett" Her brow furrowed and she looked up at Castle, motioning him to enter the interrogation box.

"Who is this?" she asked on the way there. "Hold on." After getting inside with Castle, she closed the door, and said "Okay, you're on the speaker. It's just my partner and myself."

"_Okay, detective Beckett, I'm from the FBI. I'm not supposed to be calling you, but I think there's something I need to tell you. Can we talk somewhere private, just us?" _

She looked at Castle questioningly. This was getting to be a pattern. Castle spoke, "We can meet at a bar called the Old Haunt at midnight. We'll make sure we're alone."

Beckett added, "What's this about?"

"_I'll tell you when I see you. It might have something to do with your case."_

"Okay, then. See you at the Old Haunt at 12."

After they ended the conversation, Beckett looked like she had something to say, so Castle asked "What? Do you think it's a bad idea?"

"Not necessarily. But I think we should be prepared" she said.

He took her hand and nodded in understanding. "You want to tell the guys?"

"Yeah. I'd like to think that we've learnt from past mistakes."

He nodded again. She hadn't taken her hand back, instead allowing him to trace patterns on the back of her palm. "We have. Let's go tell them" he said and released her hand.

They filled Ryan and Esposito in about the mysterious caller; he hadn't mentioned his name. Castle called the bar and told Brian to close up early. Though they were meeting at midnight, they'd decided to go and set up a few things.

* * *

><p>Ryan and Esposito arranged to get Anna's and then Luigi's alibis. It took most of the day to confirm both their whereabouts. They also tried to find out where Anthony Boccaccio was at the time of the murder, but no one was forthcoming about information for the same. They decided to leave it for the day and to go to the Old Haunt, instead. Once Brian left after closing up shop, they started moving some tables and chairs around. Castle and Beckett were waiting at one of the tables. They were both wearing their vests and she had her gun ready, just in case.<p>

Precisely at midnight, they heard a knock on the door. They let him know it was open. After closing the door behind him, he said, "I'm agent Flemming, from the FBI. Thanks for meeting with me." As he reached into his jacket Ryan and Esposito came out, yielding their guns and Beckett stood up to do the same. He raised his hands, "Hey – hey! What's this? I thought we were meeting alone."

"We are. This is my team. Are you carrying a weapon?"

"Yes, the safety is on. It's in my holster. I was reaching for my badge, you can check it."

Esposito stepped forward, with Ryan still covering him. He checked the badge and took Flemming's gun after checking for any other weapons and placed it on the bar.

"Is this how you usually operate?" He asked, slightly irritated.

"No, but we probably should. We've had a few problems. Sorry for the trouble, but this is how it is."

After they made their introductions, all of them took a seat at the table.

"So what's this about?" Castle asked.

"Look, you should first know that I'm not supposed to be talking to you. If anyone asks, this conversation never happened."

After Beckett nodded, he went on, "We're currently investigating a major narcotics operation."

"Boccaccio?" Beckett asked him.

"He's the king-pin" Flemming nodded, "One of our men was undercover with them."

"Was?" Castle asked.

"It's been five days since we last heard from him. I think that may be because he's dead."

"Was it Jake Brown?" Esposito asked, disbelievingly.

"No. Not him. But it's because of him that I think he's dead."

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"Well, when you ran the bite-marks through your databases, we were informed right away. You wouldn't get a hit because we made sure to give him a solid cover. He couldn't be found that easily. We're sure that there are moles who would have alerted Boccaccio. There was a small team with limited people privy to the investigation."

"So the bite-marks belong to your guy?"

"Yes. I'm not sure how they got there, but I assure you, it wasn't because he wanted to bite this Brown guy. Our guy – he was my partner – so if I can help your investigation, I want to. His name is – was – Stephen Thompson. The investigation is still on; we still have a few men undercover. So you'll understand that we have to keep this under the table; we can't afford to jeopardize everything at this point. I can't look into it myself, otherwise I would have."

"Okay. We understand. You want us to find out what happened to him."

"Yes. You can contact me on this number, it's a burner phone. Till this investigation is on, for all intents and purposes, I don't exist."

"Alright. Thanks for the information, I'll call if we find anything out about Stephen."

They handed over his gun, and he disappeared into the night.

Ryan said, "Is it just me, or is the 12th precinct getting really popular. We'll probably see the national guard or the secret service next."

"Oooh! The secret service would be so cool!" Castle said.

"Aren't our adventures cool enough for you, Castle?" Beckett asked with a smirk.

"You have a point." Castle noted.

* * *

><p>Ryan and Esposito parted for the night. Kate helped him move some of the furniture back to where it had been. "You want a drink?" he asked her.<p>

"No. Not tonight. It's late. I want to go home and crash on my bed."

"Hmm" he smiled. "Did you bring the Crown Vic?" He had come in earlier than Beckett to help Brian close up early.

"Yes, I did. I can drop you home if you'd like." She said.

"That'd be nice. I'd rather not stand on the street hoping to catch a cab."

"Okay, let's go."

He helped her into her jacket, and scooped her hair out. He turned the lights off. She started to move but he put her hands on her waist and pulled her back into him and hugged her. She gasped before she could help it. It felt so comfortable and warm. Maybe they could just stand here in the dark, like this, all night.

"Rick?" she asked him softly.

"Hmm?"

She felt his chest rumble with the sound. It made her tingle and a shiver passed through her despite the warmth.

"Why am I being hugged this time?"

"Do I really need a reason?" he asked near her ear.

"No, but you probably have one anyway" she replied.

That made him chuckle and her smile, because she felt it given their proximity. "You know me too well."

"So what is it?"

"You told Lanie."

She didn't have to ask him what he was talking about. The detective that she was, she figured that the news made it to Alexis and reached him.

"I did. Are you mad? I didn't think Lanie would tell Alexis."

"I'm not mad. Never mad at you" he said and dropped at kiss at her neck. It took all her strength not to gasp again, but she bit her lip, closed her eyes and another, stronger shiver went through her body. "It's a good thing she did tell Alexis. Saves me the trouble."

"Is she okay with it?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, she's happy. She told me I should get you to dance more often."

Kate let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Hmm. Good." She put her hands on his at her waist. "We should get going."

He sighed. "Yeah. I'm glad you told your best friend" he said as he let go of her.

She missed the warmth almost instantly. "I am too" she smiled as he locked the door behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** You probably already know it, seeing as I'm here writing this; but okay, I'll repeat it anyway. I don't own Castle

Chapter 6

After joining Beckett early in the precinct and giving her a cup of coffee and the best smile he could put on his face, Castle asked her, "So, I was thinking last night after we left."

She smirked. "I'm sure you were."

Oh. His eyes widened. "Not - I didn't mean –" he spluttered before seeing her smirk. "Well, maybe I did. Maybe I thought about – things," he said with a pause for effect "I love thinking about things." He shifted closer to her, while she tried her best to ignore him and continued peering at the murder board.

It was her turn to blush and splutter. "Castle – " she said in an oddly husky voice.

Oh. Maybe he should back off. Doing this at the precinct could not be good, for either of them. Oh but how he wanted to hear her call his name like that again, always. He shook his head like a dog trying to get rid of water after a bath. It made her finally look at him and smile, clearly amused at the abrupt head shaking. "What I was saying before you interrupted me" he said pointedly, "was that we didn't exactly learn too much more that we already knew. I mean, sure the bite marks are explained away but – that's just left us with more questions rather than answers."

"That's not necessarily true. Let's see what all we do know." She said nodding at the murder board before continuing. "We know that Jake Brown was murdered in Boccaccio's freezer and then moved almost a day later to the crime scene."

He added, "We know, almost certainly, that we can rule out Anna Boccaccio. She seemed genuinely surprised and has several people confirming her alibi."

"That's right. Luigi seems to be clear too. That leaves Boccaccio senior and a couple of other 'trusted' people who could have access to the freezers."

"My money is still on Boccaccio." Castle said.

"There's definitely something fishy about him, but we need evidence."

"That I can help with." Esposito said as he and Ryan walked up to them.

"Don't tease me, you guys. I haven't even finished my coffee yet."

"And suffer the wrath of decaffeinated Beckett? We're not suicidal, boss" Ryan said, earning an appreciative chuckle from Castle.

She glared, but the effect was dampened as she smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "Okay, so what do you have for us?"

Us. She must have meant the team, but that didn't stop Castle's heart from doing a victory dance.

"You know that we tried getting the Boccaccio's come back here yesterday, but his lawyer wouldn't budge. But we kept at it at least till Mr. Boccaccio gave us his alibi" said Esposito.

"And?"

Ryan continued, "And, his alibi is a bust. At the time that he should have been, what was it?" he looked into his notepad "ah – he should have been at a party at his friend's house, which is 'friend' obviously confirmed. Instead he booked his plane tickets for the next day, online. We traced the IP address from the airline's records, back to his home computer."

"He could say that he had someone else do it for him." Castle pointed out.

"He could. But we'd catch him again, because there was some trouble with the booking, and he called the airlines and they dictated the instructions to him as he carried them out."

"Great. What are you guys waiting for? Bring him in and question him. He's all yours."

"We get to interrogate the main suspect?" Ryan asked.

"Score." Esposito said as the boys 'fed the birds'.

"You earned it. Castle and I can sit back and enjoy the show from the other side."

"You got it, boss." Esposito said before he and Ryan took off to bring Boccaccio in for questioning.

"That was nice." Castle nudged her as they both went to take their seats at her desk.

"Yeah. They've been working hard. Let them have some fun."

"Hmm." He hummed in assent.

* * *

><p>They leaned against the wall on the other side of the interrogation room, watching and listening as Esposito and Ryan spoke to Boccaccio.<p>

"You lied to us Mr. Boccaccio." Esposito stated plainly.

"My client might have been a little confused about the timings. It's a simple error, it was not intentional."

"Sure it wasn't" Ryan said. "You were home, Mr. Boccaccio; not long after the murder took place, and it's entirely possible that you could be able to do that since you don't live far from where it took place."

"I don't know exactly when he was murdered, so I can't say if what you're saying is true."

"Hmm. Couldn't make it easy for us by slipping up, could he?" Castle said rhetorically.

"Like you said, it would be too easy."

Ryan explained the times to him and his lawyer. What he said was completely possible after all, even his lawyer couldn't deny that.

"See, here's what I think happened," said Esposito as he narrowed his eyes, and got up from his chair. "You and a bunch of thugs you must have hired went to where Luigi's freezers are. You had the keys. Simple enough for you to carry those along. He was dating your daughter and they'd just broken up. You were angry, you were pissed" hissed Esposito. "You called him there, lured him really, saying that you'd help him get her back. Once he was there, you shot him, and dumped him in the freezer. A day later, you moved him to the alley and soaked him with that chemical stuff to destroy evidence."

"And you got yourself and your daughter out of the way. Giving you firm alibis. But you see, Mr. Boccaccio, you might have lied to us. But bodies don't lie. Evidence doesn't lie. We know Brown was killed while you were still here."

"So tell us, Mr. Boccaccio, did it feel good? Did you feel good after finally killing the son of a gun who broke your little girl's heart?" Esposito asked.

Just as Boccaccio opened his mouth, his lawyer cut him off.

"Gentlemen, if you plan on arresting him, give me a reason, and go ahead. But right now, everything that you have is circumstantial. You can't say that my client killed the man based on the fact that he has a motive – a thin one at that – and that he was around so he could have done it. You know that won't cut it, and I certainly know that."

"We'll find more evidence."

"If you do, let me know. Until then, we're done here."

"Damn it." Beckett said as they started to walk out the interrogation room. Esposito and Ryan left after them.

"Hey, Rysposito are right. We'll find more evidence." Castle spoke into her ear while he taking her hand in his own.

"Rick" she said, turning to him. "I know, thank you, but – this – " she said looking at their hands. "Not at the precinct."

"Right. Sorry" he said as he took his hand and turned to the other side.

"I can't have you distracting me at work, Rick." She hoped she hadn't hurt him, but this was work, she had to focus.

He smiled at that and looked at her. "I distract you?" he asked her, clearly delighted at this new information.

"As much as I distract you" she said honestly.

"Okay then. No overt CDA at work."

"CDA?" she asked with a smile. She was happy that he understood. She should have known that he would. He'd do anything for her.

"Castle's display of always" he said with a goofy grin.

She playfully smacked his chest as they headed for the door. She stopped with her hand on the knob and turned towards him. Before he knew it, she reached up – even with her heels, he was slightly taller – and she placed a soft kiss on his cheek, lingering a little before moving away again.

He touched his cheek, as if to keep her kiss from evaporating and looked at her. She smirked, and opened the door. "It's my work place, Castle, I can break the rules even if you can't" she whispered to him before walking off, leaving him standing there and looking at her sheepishly.

* * *

><p>"I guess you say the whole thing?" Esposito asked sadly.<p>

"Yeah, Espo, we did. Don't worry. We'll get him. Get back to CSU, see if they've found anything worth looking at. Maybe we'll catch something they've missed or vise versa" Beckett said.

"Okay – on it."

They went back to the murder board, hoping to find another way to go about things. Castle said, "Maybe we should look into that Stephen Thompson guy. We don't know where he is – or even if he's alive."

"That might be hard considering that he "doesn't exist"", she said with air quotes.

"When has that ever stopped you?" He asked, earning himself a smile.

"You're right. We can call up Boccaccio's men and ask them about Thompson. Whatever they know, it might help. We just have to be careful about it; we can't afford to blow their operation either."

"It's possible that Thompson was already dead."

"What do you mean?"

"How and why else would his teeth marks be on Brown's back? It makes the most sense."

"Let's go talk to Lanie. See if she can help with this."

When they reached the morgue, Castle saw Alexis running off with a pad and pen in her hand and waved to her quickly. "You're not giving her a hard time, are you?" he asked Lanie.

"Hardly", Lanie replied, "That girl works herself to the bone. She doesn't sit still unless she's working on something."

"Wonder where she gets that from" he said with pride.

"Definitely from you, Castle" Beckett said, eliciting a smile before she added, "You never sit still either." He huffed, but smiled.

"So what brings you two down here?" Lanie asked.

"The bite-marks" Beckett said, "We were wondering about the angle."

"The angle? Curious that you should ask that. "

"Why?"

"It was puzzling me too, so I thought I'd have a closer look at it, and well, you'd have to run it by our tech guys, but from what I can tell, it looks like the teeth fell on him."

Castle and Beckett both scrunched up their faces trying to understand what that meant. Lanie of course, thought it was cute.

"Just the teeth – fell on him?" Castle asked.

"No. Of course not, that's stupid."

Castle grunted. Beckett briefly wondered whether it was before she called his question stupid or because he agreed that it was.

"Then what did you mean, Lanie."

"It's almost as if another body was dropped on him. Sure Brown was thawing out at the time, but for the teeth to make that much of an indentation on his back, they – it probably fell on him from a height."

"How high?" Beckett asked, trying to imagine the scenario.

"High enough for me to saw that it was a body. There's no way that a person could have survived the fall."

"Hmm. Okay, thanks Lanie. This helps a lot. I'll see you later."

"Anytime" Lanie replied, "And Castle, you really did do a stellar job on raising that girl."

Castle smiled, "Thanks Lanie. She makes me proud every second of every day."

* * *

><p>Back at the murder board, Castle voiced, "Now we know that Stephen Thompson is dead. So we have two unsolved murders and a missing body."<p>

"We'd still have to confirm it with the tech guys. They'll run simulations and such; but yeah, Lanie wouldn't have told us if she had doubts."

"Hey, Beckett" Esposito called out from his desk.

They made their way to stand closer to his desk. "Did you find something new?" Beckett asked him.

"Yes. And it's good."

"What it is, bro?" Ryan asked him as he joined them.

"One of the guys who worked for Boccaccio, had a lot to say."

"Worked, not working?" Castle asked.

"That's right. He quit recently. He said that he'd been getting friendly with Thompson because he was one of the few decent guys around there. In fact, it was Thompson who suggested that he should quit."

"What's this guy's name?"

"Joe Melis"

"Okay, what else did he say?"

"He said that Thompson had been a bit jumpy lately. When Joe asked him why, he'd said that he thought that Brown was in trouble with the boss. When he pushed him about it, Thompson told him that Brown was blackmailing Boccaccio senior and that he overheard Boccaccio saying that he had had enough."

"That explains his recent steady flow of income. If he was taking care of Boccaccio's accounts and he'd found anomalies, he could have used those to blackmail Boccaccio." Beckett said.

Castle added, "He probably put up with it because of Anna, but once they broke up, there wouldn't be any reason to keep him around."

"But we'd still need proof that he was blackmailing Boccaccio."

Ryan finally pitched in, "Well. I can help with that. I just got a call from Mr. Dawson on the precinct line."

"Mr. Dawson, as in Jake's brother-in-law?"

"Yep. He knows about the blackmail. He said that Brown had told him about the anomalies in the account one day in his drunken haze when he was there to visit his sister. Brown told him that he was going to use this to get rich. Mr. Dawson says he warned him not to get involved in that kind of thing with the Boccaccio's but Brown didn't seem like he would back down. He said that he had extra advantage over the Boccaccio's."

"By extra advantage, he probably meant Anna." Castle said.

"That's what I think too. But, here's the best part. Since Dawson knew anyway, Brown sent him an email containing all the proof of the accounts anomalies. Dawson told him that he didn't want to be involved and that he was going to delete the email. Brown told him to suit himself and do whatever he wants – but"

"But Dawson didn't delete the email." Beckett finished and Ryan nodded. "Fantastic. Did you tell him to forward the email to you?"

Ryan nodded again, "Probably in my inbox as we speak."

"Then we have our motive. Let's top it up with proof of the murder" she said and then frowned, "But I still don't get how Thompson was involved."

"Hmm" Castle said.

"You have a theory" she stated more than asked him.

"If Thompson knew that Brown was blackmailing Boccaccio, and that Boccaccio was about to do something about it, there's a chance that he was about to do something about it himself."

"How do you mean?" Esposito asked.

He looked at Esposito and said, "Just think about it. You're the good guy, you're the cop who goes undercover to expose this narc operation and you find out that someone's about to get killed. You want the operation to proceed, but would you want it on your conscience that you know a guy's about to be killed and you just stand by?"

"I'd try to stop it from happening", Esposito nodded, understanding.

"Picture this – ", Castle started his story, "Boccaccio lures Brown to the freezer, shoots him or gets someone else to do it and then dumps him in the freezer. To keep himself and his daughter out of the picture, the next day he books a flight to another state so that they both have rock-solid alibis. At the same time, he tells his guys to move Brown's body to the alley and make it look like a mugging gone bad. They don't know that Thompson was following them. Thompson probably didn't know that Brown was already dead, he might just have seen them handling his body in the alley. He confronts them, shows them his badge in a bid to stop them."

"But Thompson probably had a gun of his own. He could have stopped them."

"Hmm. What if – what if the other guy was heading back from chucking Brown's wallet in the dumpster, notices Thompson confronting the other guy and tackles him from behind. Thompson wouldn't have any option but to run. Maybe he went to the building to try and reach a phone, call for back-up."

"That's possible" Beckett said, "He goes, searching from door to door, climbs higher and higher because they chase him and catch up. Then what? Did they kill him? Did he just jump out a window?"

"There's only one way to find out. Let's go back to the scene. Check out that building." Castle said.

"Let's go." Beckett said.

They went to the building and split up. Ryan and Esposito taking some rooms, while Castle and Beckett looked at the others.

"Hey, Beckett" Castle said, "I think this is our room."

She came to stand next to him. Sure enough, there was a bullet embedded in the wall next to the emergency exit. The exit itself was swaying dangerously.

"If they shot at him, and hit him while he tried to escape from here, he'd fall bang in the middle of our crime scene. Right on top of Brown." Castle said.

She moved to look around the rest of the room for more evidence. "That's possible. That emergency exit looks like it's about to fall too."

"What the hell? Who you, what are you doing here?" said a man standing at the door, pointing his gun at Castle. He hadn't seen Beckett yet.

"NYPD, drop the gun" Beckett yelled, but he was already about to pull the trigger. She lunged at him just as the shot rang out and Castle fell back into the exit. She heard a loud clunk and a few seconds later, heard a loud thud as part of the exit probably collapsed and hit the ground, taking Castle –

"No" she yelled, as Esposito and Ryan came running in, "No!" she yelled again. Esposito and Ryan handcuffed the guy that Beckett tackled and took the gun from him.

"What's going on, Beckett, where's Castle?" Esposito asked her.

She was looking at the gaping space that was the emergency exit just a few minutes ago. She couldn't tell him. She couldn't breathe. She just couldn't –

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Mwahahahahahha. What happens next? Tune in to find out more.

Sorry for updating this late. That's why I made this chapter long and juicy. Leave a review please?


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, I own Castle. I also own a beautiful island in the middle of nowhere, where Lindts grow on trees and pizza toppings are the hardest decision in life. Yes, I mean in my dreams.

**A/N: **I think the last chapter was singular one to get as much feedback. Lol. Thanks for the alerts, and welcome to those who just joined. And thank you so, so much for the reviews. I hope this chapter un-cruelizes me. (My author's note - my made-up words. ;) ). BUT, here's something I know ya'll are going to call me things for.. This is going to be the last chapter for a while, cause I'm going on a vacation. I might pick it up from here once I'm back. What do ya'll think? I won't know till you tell me. Contrary to popular opinion, I can't read minds. Or lips. I wish I could do both. I'll stop talking now.

* * *

><p>"A little help over here, guys?" They heard a strangled scream coming from the exit – what was left of it.<p>

Beckett's heart skipped a beat – or just plain stopped. She and Esposito ran to the exit – the death trap. Castle was hanging for dear life with both hands on the edge. His feet were planted on a loose railing, but that was enough to escape the gravity from adding more to his weight. They reached out and pulled him up with a massive effort. They yanked, and pulled; he pushed himself towards them, crawling and using the friction of the rough floor. Even in the midst of possibly falling to his death, he noticed that Beckett's hands were gripping him with every shred of power she could muster. Ryan took off they guy's cuffs and re-cuffed him to the heater in the room and came over to help them. Once he was safely in, Esposito and Ryan went to get the guy. "We'll take this scumbag to the precinct. See you there." Esposito said as they hauled him through the door. They knew that Castle and Beckett would need a few minutes.

He was on the floor, panting, as was she. "Castle, what the hell?" she said as she punched him on his arms – hard – once; twice; thrice in rapid succession.

"Hey – wha? Owww Beckett!"

"Don't you dare do that to me again" she yelled at him.

"Okay, next time I won't duck for cover when a lunatic shoots at me" he said, rolling his eyes.

"This. is. not. funny" she huffed.

"Hardly", Castle said, standing up and moving further away from the death-trap. "Jeez. I could have died." He said as he breathed in, only to feel the air whooshing out of him as Beckett collided into him for a hug.

She was crushing him and he hugged her back just as possessively. "Don't say that. Just – don't" she cried out.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Hey, I'm okay, Kate. I'm here. We're fine" He rubbed his hand over her back while trying to console her.

They stayed hugging till her breathing evened out. "Is what you went through?" she asked him softly.

"The not-knowing part lasted a whole lot longer. And this didn't happen afterwards"

"I'm sorry that I ever put you through that, Rick. And I'm sorry we didn't get to hold each other."

"Hmm? Oh, that's not what I meant" he said teasingly.

She looked up at him quizzically.

"You got to punch me. No fair."

She arched her brow. "You're saying you wanted to punch me?"

He snorted. "Yeah, right. Not you. Maybe – others."

"Hmm", she said, briefly contemplating what he meant. But she found that she couldn't care right this moment.

"I'm sorry for pushing you away, for staying away. I'm sorry any of this is happening to me; and to you. I'm sorry for a lot of things –"

He cut her off. He couldn't have her blaming herself. What she went through was hard enough. "Kate, stop. I'm sorry for a lot of things too, mostly for the circumstances. But I'm not sorry that I was with you – that I am and always will be with you through any and all of it. The tragedies will always be there, but they're in the past. We're both okay."

She pulled back, and looked into his eyes before saying, "We're more than okay". And she kissed him soundly on the lips. He was stunned just for a fraction of a second before kissing her back. Much like the kiss that they shared 'undercover' long ago; they kissed again, passionately. He pulled her closer, she pushed herself up to meet him, he nipped, she moaned. Finally pulling apart to breathe, she smoothed down his jacket and said with a smirk, "Don't get used to it, yet."

"Yet?" he questioned her breathlessly.

"Mmhm." She nodded as she walked away from him, deliberately slowly waiting for him to follow.

* * *

><p>They came back to the precinct to find Esposito and Ryan walking out of the interrogation room. Maybe they'd taken more time than they thought. Castle decided to keep the details of today's events from Alexis. She could know that he ducked for cover from a stray bullet; she didn't need to know that he ground fell out from under him, almost taking him with it. He told as much to Beckett and the guys.<p>

"He confessed. The little rat" Ryan said. "He and his buddy were the ones to kill Thompson and the ones who moved Brown. They threw that chemical gunk on Brown to get rid of the blood splatter because of Thompson's drop."

"What was he doing there anyway?" Castle asked.

"Boccaccio must've gotten word that we have more on him. He told his guy to clean the place, make sure we didn't find anything" Esposito said.

"Just so happened that he found us", Castle quipped.

"Yup. It happened pretty much like you said. They shot at him twice or thrice, one bullet hit him. He stumbled out onto the exit, probably to try to escape. It couldn't take his weight, the hinges on one side came loose and it fell on one side, but he couldn't maintain his balance and fell."

"What did they do with his body?" Beckett asked.

"Their boss was on the plane and they couldn't contact him. So the numb nuts had the bright idea of dumping Thompson's body in the ocean while leaving Brown there which was their original plan" Esposito said

"Okay, well it'll be easy enough to get the arrest warrants now that we have a confession. Send units out to get the other guy and you guys go arrest Boccaccio."

"Let's go, bro" Esposito said to Ryan, "We're glad you're okay, man." They both nodded at Castle.

* * *

><p>"What now?" Castle asked as she hung up the phone. He'd come from the break room with two coffees, and handed one to her which she took appreciatively.<p>

"I called Anna Boccaccio to tell her what we know. She took it hard, no surprise there. Right now, I just finished speaking with agent Flemming, to let him know what we found out."

"They'll probably make head-way with their end of the case too now" Castle said.

"Yeah. So all that's left for me to do here, is the paperwork."

"My favorite part", Castle said with a smile.

"You can go home if you want to, Castle. It's been quite a day" she said why looking at the papers in front of her.

"I don't think so."

She was glad, though she wouldn't tell him. She really wasn't ready to part with him for the day. After all the paper work was done and after Gate's was updated, Castle helped her into her jacket and they took off. She offered to drop him home, which he readily accepted.

"Come home for dinner" he said to her while she drove. She smiled.

"What's for dinner?"

Not a no, he thought blissfully. "It's make-your-own pizza night."

"Sounds like fun."

"I'm warning you though, mother is home and she's running lines with Alexis. We'll probably have to watch." He said, bringing his hands up to his face.

"Sounds like even more fun" she said with barely concealed laughter.

"'tswhat you think" came a muffled reply from behind his hands.

* * *

><p>When they reached the door to the loft, they heard faint voices coming from the other side. Castle knocked and a minute later, Martha was ushering them inside. "Hello darlings! You're just in time! She exclaimed enthusiastically as they took off their jackets and shoes.<p>

"Hello Martha, it's good to see you again. You too, Alexis" Beckett said before receiving hellos and smiles.

"What do you mean we're just in time, mother? You didn't already start the pizzas, did you?"

"Oh, no. There's still time for that. Alexis is helping me with the new script. In fact –", he eyes were suddenly twinkling. Kate thought it was the same twinkle that Castle got when he was up to something. "You two can help me, now that you're here. I'm sure Alexis would appreciate the break."

"I would", Alexis nodded with a pleading look. "I've been doing every other character and the narrator. Please help, you guys."

How could they say no to that – and when could they say no, because Martha was already shoving copies of the script into their hands after opening them to the correct page.

"I'm Queen Martha."

Castle looked at her skeptically, while Kate just looked thoroughly amused. "Queen Martha?"

"We haven't decided on the names yet. So, for the time being, it's easier to use my own name. That makes you Prince Richard", she said looking at her son, "and you are Princess Katherine from the neighboring land. It's set in the medieval era of knights and castles with drawbridges and such, but the language is more modern. The audience is going to be a young one", Martha explained.

Castle watched as Beckett's face went from bemused to horrified. He nudged her and shared a look that was meant to say, 'it's okay. Just run with it. She's a bit crazy'. Kate smiled.

"Alexis are you up for narrating?" Martha asked her granddaughter.

"Sure. There's not much left to narrate. I don't mind", said a smiling Alexis.

"Then let's start! I'm going to sit down though. All my parts are done, but I want to see this to the end. So, what are you waiting for, kiddo? On with it."

Alexis began, "And so the knight in his dark shiny armor, helped her dismount his powerful black steed. He'd saved her, one last time. He was an honorable man – much too honorable to be bound by a commonality such as love. He knew this – the smart knight did, and so did fair Princess Katherine."

Kate thought Alexis was doing a great job of narrating. She even remembered to say her name without a hitch. When she looked at Castle, his eyes were furrowed, and she couldn't help but wonder why.

Alexis continued, "He galloped into the sunset, leaving Princess Katherine to her own devices. Princess Katherine was afraid. It should have been a task unto her heart to watch him leave. She felt a twinge of regret but nothing more. She turned around only to be surprised by the solemn face of Prince Richard."

They looked towards Rick.

"Princess Katherine, I would be lying if I were to say, that seeing you has not brought peace to my fragile heart."

It was Kate's turn. "You _are_ lying, Prince Richard. Your heart is all but fragile. It is the braver and kinder than any I have ever known."

"You could have come sooner, fair Princess. I have waited and waited."

She was starting to see why Castle looked disturbed earlier. This was eerie. But she couldn't look away. Even between reading her script, they're eyes were fixed on each other's.

"I'm sorry Prince, that I allowed myself to go astray. I'm not strong as you are."

"It is now you, who are lying princess. You are the strongest and fiercest warrior Princess. I know of none other like you. No other can possibly exist. I believe in your strength, more than I do my own."

"Then let me prove it to you Prince, that you are right in believing so. I could not say it before. It was not my place to say; but with the knight now gone, I am free to speak my heart. I heard your plea before I left. I heard you even if I denied it then. I love you too, Prince Richard." Kate's voice was oddly strangled, and her eyes just a tad shinier; but she still kept her gaze intently on his while saying the last sentence. She feared that maybe he saw what she could no longer hide. She feared it, but also hoped it. What was her sadistic heart doing?

"It was not my place to say either. But now I can speak my poorly hidden truth. I love you Princess Katherine. I always have and I always shall." He looked at her with a matching gaze.

Alexis finally said, "Grams, who's written this thing? It's romantic but incredibly cheesy."

"One of my friends did dear. I might have helped a little, here and there."

"Umm", said Alexis once she noticed that her dad and Kate were having some sort of staring match, not listening to a word anyone was saying. "Grams, can you come help me get the stuff ready in the kitchen?"

Martha realized of course. "That's a great idea darling", she said making her way off the chair towards the kitchen. Castle barely registered her muttering something like, "God knows they'll be hungry when they get back from middle earth."

"How long?" he asked her.

"I never forgot", she said, eyes downcast.

He sighed deeply.

"You're mad. I can leave if –" She stopped as she felt his hand on her thigh, anchoring her there.

"I had my suspicions, right from the start."

"I lied. You should be mad", she said softly.

"I can't honestly say that I'm completely fine. It hurts a bit. But Kate, I could have said it again."

She looked up at him, confused. "You thought I was still with Josh."

"After that. Kate, I know what you went through. As much as you'd like to change it, I was right there with you. I was with you even when I wasn't."

"You were", she said honestly.

"You had your reasons. It's not easy for everyone to say it, Kate. I understand that. If you weren't – if it wasn't for the shooting, I don't know how long I might have taken to summon the courage to say it. But you have to know, that I didn't say it because you were – " He sighed again. "- because you were dying. I just said it _then_ because you were dying."

"And now?" she asked him in a whisper.

"And now, I want to say it to you every second. I want to, but I won't. I'll say it when you're ready to hear it. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"It may be a while before you get to hear it, Rick. You've already waited for so long, so patiently."

"I'll wait for as long as it takes", he said with certainty in his voice.

She nodded. "Just because I don't or can't say it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

He breathed in deeply as the words and the meaning sunk to his core. He kissed her softly on her cheek, got up from the couch and took her hand. "Let's go make some pizza."

She smiled. "Lead the way."

* * *

><p>They all ate the delicious pizzas that they'd made. The sauce, Kate learned, was his special recipe that he insisted he wouldn't tell her. She'd find a way to make him, of course, some day. Right now they were all full from a large all too satisfying meal and company.<p>

"Time for this old lady to hit the sack. Good night you three. Kate, it's always a pleasure having you here. You should come more often", Martha said as Kate headed to the door to put on her shoes and jacket.

"I agree", said Alexis with a smile. "This was fun. And I'm off too. It's been a long day. Goodnight, everyone."

"Goodnight mother; pumpkin", Castle replied.

"Goodnight. I love spending time with you guys", Kate added.

Martha and Alexis made their way up the steps, leaving Castle and Beckett alone. She turned to face him after she finished with her shoes and jacket.

"So – you're really not mad at me?" she asked him tentatively; unsure of herself. Unsure of them.

He grinned, grabbed her by the waist and gently backed her up into the door. He put his hands on either side of her head and leaned in, agonizingly slowly, till his nose was at her temple and his mouth at her left ear.

"Princes Katherine", he said in a dangerously low voice that intoxicated her. She put her hands on his waist to steady herself, despite already leaning on the door. He continued, "twould be but an unforgivable sin to feel towards you, anything but affection. I'd trek plains and mountains alike for you and never would my humble feet tire. I'd give up all my gold for you, yet never would my fortune feel larger. I'd weave a thousand words for you if they would stretch your lips, the way I – love", he said as each breath of air from his nose taunted her skin and hair. In a more serious tone, she imagined, he said, "I'd slay every dragon, every demon, every evil before they could ever take you away from me, or steal your happiness from you. You are a warrior Princess, Katherine, and though you don't need protecting; I'd do it still, because fair maiden, you have something of mine that's yours to protect. You have my heart and I can't live without it."

He pressed a kiss to her temple and she turned into him, eyes closed, a lone tear making it's way down her cheek. He kissed that away too and then took a step back.

"Go home, Kate. It's getting late." He said more in his normal voice.

"You say those things and expect me to just leave in one piece?"

He chuckled quietly. "You look like you're in one piece to me."

She shook her head. "There's an important chunk missing. You took it."

He made a show of emptying his pockets. "Mmm. Nothing here." He shrugged.

"Not there", she placed her hand on his chest, over his heart. "Here."

She stepped closer to him, pressed a slow, tender, all-too-short-for-his-liking kiss to his lips before resting her forehead against his.

"You're spoiling me, you know", he whispered. "One minute you're telling me not to get used to it, the next minute you do – that."

She smiled,stepped away and opened the door. "Goodnight, Prince Richard."

"Until the morrow, Princess Katherine."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well? How'd you like it?.. On a scale of one to swiss, how cheesy was it? :P I couldn't help myself. I'm a romantic at heart; a shipper from the start. *sigh*

Also, I ended it with, "she smiled, stepped away and opened the door".. That was deliberate. ;) Like?


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

**A/N: **Okay. We've moved on in the timeline. It's only been a few weeks since we left off from the last chapter. It's pretty much angst and fluff about to ensue, unless, I get bored and throw a murder in there. I find it incredibly hard to write without a set plot, so that just might happen. How the brilliant authors on this site do it without the distraction of a case, I don't know. I wish I was as good.

Anyhow, sadist that I am, I decided to leave you all with a taste of what's to come. The rest will follow at the end of this month. If I do get any writing done, I'll post it cause I'm impatient. So keep your eye on the alerts. If you've ever reviewed for me, you know how much I love reviews. If you haven't so far; Dude or dudette reading this, I love reviews. Even if it's only to point out mistakes, I'd still appreciate it. How else will I learn, right? So please take the time to leave one for me.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 2<strong>

Chapter 8

The crime-solving duo had done it yet again. They'd solved another case. It seemed to them that they always landed the loopy cases. Sure, some were simple enough. But no case came without a twist – pertaining to the case itself or otherwise. Ryan was still wary of the Navy Seals, or the National Security, or some occult task force showing up. He and Esposito had a bet going. There were so many of them these days that it was a wonder they could even keep track anymore.

Most of the bets were centered on Castle and Beckett's relationship – of course. Nearly the entire precinct was in on them. The first kiss, the first fight, the first PDA (or as Castle would prefer, CDA), the first date, the first person to cave and fess up to the rest of them, the first signs of trouble brewing, the first signs of forever. Bets were a-plenty at the twelfth precinct.

They didn't know that some of these were in vain. Sure it was undercover, but they'd already had their first kiss. They'd had more than just one fight. The first one had been years ago. The first signs of forever were meant more in a materialistic manner. A band perhaps? But it was a mutual, unspoken agreement that the first signs and many more thereafter; this was meant to last forever. Unfortunately, they were also soon about to see the first signs of trouble.

On the night in question, they returned to the loft after a long day. The case was not too difficult, but it had its twist. It had to, right? It hit too close to home. The victim was a lawyer in his early forties, found stabbed to death in an alley. She was putting on a brave face. Maybe it was easier to be brave because she had someone to be brave with her. Either way, the effects were kept at bay up until the end. He didn't even have to convince her to come to the loft.

She might be opening the windows to let more than just a draft of breeze in, but the wall was still up. He wasn't naive enough to hope that it would just disappear. She'd told him that it would come down when her mother's case was resolved.

She was being too quiet. She let him hold her hand, caress her arm even. But she just sat there, staring into space. He knew where she was, and it wasn't with him. His heart ached for her, and slightly more selfishly, for himself. But it was time.

He took her hand and pulled her up as he stood himself. She looked at him, confused and curious. He couldn't smile. Didn't have the strength or courage; maybe he _was_ a coward. But how can one _not_ be afraid to lose what he had? He guided her to his study. There was no easy way to do this.

He turned to her and said, "Kate, this is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The worst truth I've ever had to hide."

She looked worried now. Her brow was furrowed and she was biting her lower lip. But she squeezed his hand instead of letting go.

God, he thought, what was he about to do to this hard-earned trust. He looked her in the eyes and said, "Please promise me that you'll listen, before you won't anymore– before you decide."

"Rick, you're scaring me", she said. She had a nudging doubt. She had always had a doubt. It was a doubt that was inadvertently heightened while investigating the Mayor.

"Promise me that, and promise me that you'll look after yourself."

"Are you breaking up with me?" she asked with widened eyes. Was this better or worse than her doubt?

"We're together?" he asked with equally wide eyes. Not the time for semantics, Rick. "Sorry – don't answer that. No, I'm not. But you might want to – ", he sighed.

"I promise."

"Okay", he took a deep breath, and turned on his murder board. Her face jumped out at her.

She was momentarily stunned by her own image. Her eyes darted across his flat screen and slowly she realized what it was. Her breathing became ragged. She took her hand back from his.

"I received a call, not long after you were shot. Not long after Montgomery", he said.

She stood with her eyes glued to the screen. She wasn't yelling or fighting. She wasn't crying, or talking. He could just hope that she was listening.

"He told me that your life was in danger. He said that if I were to keep you from the case, to keep you from investigating; that I could keep the danger at bay."

He thought she turned her head towards him, just a fraction. So he went on.

"That's when I told you to back off; that we'd solve this case some day, but to cool it off for the time being. Do you remember what we spoke about on the swings?"

She nodded, still not looking at him.

"You told me that you had a wall up; that you could never have the kind of relationship that you wanted till it came down."

She turned to face him but still didn't say anything, and still didn't look at his face. He couldn't judge her reaction, or lack there off.

"When I asked you to back off, I promised you that we'd solve it someday. At the same time, I had to do what I could to keep you safe. So I kept investigating. I had to decide, Kate. Should I have told you then and possibly put your life at risk. Maybe finally you could have that relationship – and I hoped that it was with me. Should I have done that or should I have kept it from you? That came with the possibility that we may never be together; with the possibility that when this came out, you'd see it as the betrayal it is and never want to see me again."

He sighed deeply and continued, "I thought about it a lot. Eventually I realized that this was bigger than us. You have to know, that if I had to make the choice again. I'd choose this. I will always choose to keep you safe."

"I need to go", she said quietly and turned.

"Wait."

She shook her head. "I need to go, Castle."

"I know. Just wait, a few minutes. Take this with you."

She turned back to him, confused. He was unplugging the laptop from the projector. He removed a CD from his laptop, placed it in a cover and handed it to her.

"Why are you giving this to me? Why are you telling me this now?" she asked him.

He could hear the hurt in her voice.

"I never intended to keep this from you forever. I would have told you someday. I didn't realize that it would be today but – ", he looked into her staring eyes.

"I had to wait till I was sure that you weren't going to run into this head-on. They're still after you, Kate; or they will be if they come to know that you're looking for them again."

"And you don't think that I'll run into it head-on now?"

"No, I don't. When you came back after the shooting, it was too raw. You were driven by anger and revenge more than you realized. You're more you now. I told you already, I trust you. I know that you don't or can't do the same for me – not anymore, but it's in your hands now. I'll do whatever you want."

"Is there more you need to tell me?"

"No."

"I need to leave," she repeated.

"I'll stay away till you say otherwise", he said. The only reason he knew she had heard him, was that she paused while walking towards the door. And then she was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

**A/N:** If there's anything I love in stories, it's the parallels. Parallels, and coming full circle. Thank you all for reading so far. I hope you're still enjoying it. I'd love feedback. : )

Chapter 9

Johanna Beckett was sitting in her study, pouring over the latest case. A man had been framed of murdering his wife. She thought he was innocent, she'd found proof. Was it enough proof? It was her job to convince the jury that it was enough. Her opponent was putting up a good challenge, but that only made her work harder.

She was startled when she heard a door slamming in the house. Judging by the sound, it had come from her daughter's room. She got up from her chair with a sigh, and moved to Katherine's room. She could hear sniffing even through the door. It always broke her heart a little, when her baby girl would cry. This was potentiated by the fact that Kate was a stubborn girl, much like herself; one who didn't cry often. Johanna wondered whether she even cried in the confines of her room, when she was alone. That made it so much more difficult to hear.

She knocked on the door, and waited for Kate to answer. She heard one more sniff and some muffled movements before Kate's voice came, "Come in."

She stepped inside and saw that Kate had probably forced herself to stop crying and wiped away any remnants of the tears. "Have you been crying, Katherine?"

"No mom", she said with an even voice.

It shouldn't be this easy for her fifteen year old daughter to lie about this, Johanna thought. "Don't lie to me. You know that I'll see right through it."

Kate looked at her mother's determined face and relented. She nodded.

"What happened?"

"Boys are stupid."

Boy problems. Oh no. Already? Where did the time go? "I agree wholeheartedly. But which specific boy are you talking about, Katie?"

"Daniel."

"What did this Daniel do to break my baby's heart?" she asked with a sad smile.

Kate gave her a sad smile in return. "It's stupid."

"It always is. I'd like to hear about it anyway."

"He asked me to the prom and I said yes. He was so ecstatic that he told all his friends. They told their friends, they told theirs and so on."

"I see how you'd want to keep that private."

"That's not the problem. I'm glad I said yes to him. He's a nice guy and it's just a class prom. Nothing major."

"Then I don't see the problem."

"It's how and what he told everyone that's the problem. He told everyone the story of – and I quote – how he won me over. Some other guy made some lewd joke and Daniel warned him to back off; he told him that I belonged to him."

"He defended your honor? The nerve", Johanna said with a bemused expression.

"Moooom!" Kate whined, "I don't _belong_ to him. I don't _belong_ to anyone. And I didn't need him to defend me, I could have done it myself."

She chuckled. "You were right. That is stupid."

Kate glared at her mother. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side? Why are you laughing?"

"I am on your side. I'm always on your side, baby girl. I'm laughing because it's funny how much like me, you are."

"Huh?"

"I was once in a similar situation but I was older than you are now. This really sweet guy defended my honor. He punched a guy for making passes at me; on our second date actually. I walked out of the restaurant leaving him to pay, and probably leaving him very confused."

"What happened then?" Kate asked.

"Well, I had a chat with your grandmother, just like we're having this one now. She reminded me that my father would call us his too. I couldn't argue with that –Don't I belong to my parents? Don't they belong to me?"

"Grandma was smart", Kate said with a smile.

"Yeah, she was. Plus my boyfriend was entirely too persistent. He kept apologizing in the sweetest ways – he sent me balloons, bought me chocolates, figured out what my favorite flowers were, wrote me the goofiest poetry that made me laugh – My dear Johanna", she remembered fondly, "Won't you please forgive me? Or I'll just keep wasting more paper that was once part of a tree."

"Wow. That's – really terrible", Kate said while laughing.

"It was. I finally told him to stop apologizing when he didn't even know what he was apologizing for. We spoke about it and soon after that we went on our third date."

"What happened next?" Kate was curious to learn these things about her mother. She hadn't heard this before.

"We fought and made up more times than I can remember. There was a period that we had broken up and started seeing other people too. Ultimately though, there was just something about the connection between us. It was magical. We found our way back to each other."

"Where is he now?"

"He should probably be home any minute", Johanna said with a wide smile and twinkling eyes. The next thing she knew, she was being hugged by her daughter.

"Thanks mom."

"Anytime honey. Don't let your ego get in the way of love. Someday you'll belong to a man just as much as he'll belong to you. You can try to fight it all you want, but you're going to fall head over heels in love. I can tell.", she said while hugging her back.

Kate snorted but didn't argue and her tone turned to teasing, when she added, "Maybe I should bring Dan over to meet you guys. You know, since we're going to land up married anyway."

Johanna pulled out of the hug, horrified – only to see Kate barely controlling her laughter. "Katherine Beckett! You have an appalling sense of humor", she said as Jim Beckett entered the room to see his girls. "And it's completely your fault", she said, pointing at her husband.

"What did I do?" He asked, flabbergasted; making Kate laugh her heart out.

* * *

><p>It had been two weeks since their 'talk'. For most of the first week, everyday brought on a new emotion. On Thursday, she was angry as hell – even Ryan and Esposito stayed out of her way. The poor junior detective who tried to flirt with her almost had his head ripped off. On Friday, she was sad – sad that his chair lay empty, sad that her coffee tasted terrible, sad that she couldn't do anything, sad that he wasn't there to tell her that she's got this. On Saturday, she was frustrated – how had things come to this? Why did these things keep happening to her? On Sunday she was mad at what he did; on Monday, she understood why.<p>

Over the last week her emotions began to settle somewhere between the wild spectrum. She was sitting on her couch with her legs brought up under her, chewing but not biting off her nail. She jumped slightly when her phone went off. It rang once – could it be him? Did she want it to be him? It rang a second time, and she picked it up with her eyes closed.

"Beckett", she said and held her breath. Maybe if she didn't see the caller id, just maybe it would be him.

"_Hey girl_", came Lanie's voice.

She let out her breath. "Hey Lanie. What's up?"

"_Not much. I just decided to call my girlfriend because I'm free on a Saturday night_."

"Oh. Okay", she drawled.

"_If you're busy, I can call later_."

Great, now she felt bad for this too. "No, Lanie. I'm free too. You know me, nothing better to do on a Saturday night than to wallow in self pity."

"_About that – ", _Lanie started but was interrupted by a huge sigh_. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

She hoped the sigh was clue enough - apparently not. "No. We already talked about it."

"_I know we did. But if you want to talk some more, you know I'll listen._"

"I know, Lanie. Thanks. It's just – ", she didn't even know what to say but she sighed again.

"_Katherine Beckett, I know that sigh. It's the - I have something to say, but I don't know how to say it so I just won't instead – sigh."_

"You got that from a sigh?" Kate asked, amused.

"_Don't doubt my best-friend superpowers." _

"Okay. Yeah. He told me that he would stay away till I told him otherwise."

"_I remember. Did he show up at the precinct or something?"_ Lanie asked, knowing full well that he didn't.

"No. He stayed away. He's staying away."

"_Kate, even my superpowers are rendered useless by your cryptic comments."_

"I thought he'd try to contact me. I thought he try hard to – to – ", fight for me? Fight against me for me? "to make sure that I'm okay."

It was a hard for her to admit, Lanie knew. _"Well –",_ she drawled.

"Well what Lanie? What aren't you telling me?"

"_Oh look at that! You have best-friend superpowers too!"_

"Lanie!"

"_Writer boy hasn't called you to see if you're okay, because he knows that you are."_

"How does he know?"

"_He's been calling Kevin, Javi and me regularly to make sure that you're fine. Little Castle has been asking too."_

He's been doing what? He's been keeping tabs on her? She should be angry all over again. But wait – Alexis was asking too? Whenever Kate went to the morgue, Alexis was mysteriously absent – probably Lanie's doing.

As if reading her mind, Lanie said, _"Girl, don't get on his back for that. He's just looking out for you. And frankly, he's starting to depress all of us. I'm sure he can't help it. But when he calls us, we can tell that it's as if someone's ripped his heart out. He didn't even sound this sad over the summer."_

"Over the summer? He called you guys over the summer too?"

"_Never stopped. That man loves you, Kate. A blind, deaf, heartless, brainless cactus would even see it. He loves you so much."_

She couldn't hold her soft sob and sure enough, Lanie heard it. _"Just call him, Kate. Or better yet, go talk to him."_

"I can't."

"_There's nothing that Kate Beckett can't do. Go and talk to him or else I'll come over and drag you there myself."_

"Lanie – "

It was Lanie's turn to sigh. _"I can't force you to do anything, Kate. I can see that he's hurting and so are you. So, stop being children, grow up and go be miserable together if you decide to stay miserable. Otherwise go, talk to him, figure things out and work together to put it behind you once and for all."_

She breathed deeply. "You're right"

"_I am?" _Lanie asked, momentarily stunned. She added hastily, _"I mean, of course I am. Get your butt off your couch, stop chewing your hand off and go to writer boy."_

"How'd you -? You know what, never mind. Thanks Lanie. I'm hanging up now. Bye."

"_Anytime honey. Bye."_

She put down her phone to grab her jacket and quickly put it on. She put her wallet and keys in her purse, slipped her feet into her heels, and went out the door. She reached the loft quickly after winding her way through the thankfully scant night traffic. She held her hand up to knock, but paused. Was she doing the right thing? This isn't the time to doubt it, she decided and rapped the door.

She heard the footsteps approaching, till they stopped just on the other side. The door opened to reveal Richard Castle, standing in front of her just gawking at her in surprise. She saw a whole range of emotions cross his face – the corners of his mouth twitched upwards before he quickly overcompensated and it turned into a frown, then a straight face, wonder, guilt.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Can I come in?"

"You're really here?" he asked her, disbelievingly.

She reached out and pinched his side. Startled, he jumped back and she smirked.

"I guess I am."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So basically this chapter was girl talk. :P I hope I did it well enough. I better have, you know, seeing as I'm a girl. :D. Love ya guys!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

A/N: This is a short chapter, I know. But it came to a natural conclusion, so I didn't want to needlessly extend it. It's pretty heavy though. So I hope you enjoy it anyway. Thank you guys again, for the alerts, favorites, and reviews. I appreciate each and every one of you. : )

Chapter 10

"I guess I am", she said and confidently pushed her way inside. "We need to talk."

He nodded.

He was dressed in his pajamas, had tousled hair. Kate thought that he'd have looked adorable if it weren't for the dark circles under his eyes, and prominent lines on his face. She also thought that he might have lost a couple of pounds since she last saw him.

"Where are Martha and Alexis?"

"Mother isn't home yet. Alexis is in her room."

"Hmm. Then let's go to your study. I'd rather not have her listening to any of this."

She saw the look of gratitude cross his face before he schooled his features and nodded again. She took off her jacket and shoes, and took her purse along with her while following him to the study.

He stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do with himself. Should he offer her a seat? Should he sit? Finally deciding to lean against the desk, he left the choice to her. He was surprised when she came over and leaned on the table; although she'd left a good bit of distance between them.

"There's a lot I have to say, and I need to you listen", she said as she looked straight ahead. They were both avoiding eye contact.

Through the corner of her eyes, she saw him nod, so she continued. "What you did was stupid. I'm extremely angry at you for many reasons. I've had time to think about it, and I'm still mad about a lot of things. In the past, I would have doubted your intentions. I don't doubt them now. I know what you did was because you were looking out for me."

What was this he was hearing? Is that hope swelling up in his chest?

She said, "The way you went about it was wrong. Rick, I still wish you had told me earlier."

Rick. Rick. He felt like crying, it had never felt so good to hear his name.

"The problem is that I don't think there might have been a right way. You were right; I'd probably dive into it with my eyes closed."

She paused. So he asked, "But you're still angry at me."

"Damn right, I am. What were you thinking, investigating this on your own? If they're ready to kill me, they're ready to kill you too, Rick. What would that do to Martha; to Alexis?" _To me_. "I lost my mom Rick, and clearly I never got over it. Do you want Alexis to go through that? Do you want her to be ask broken as I am? Because I certainly don't", she said with her voice rising.

"I've been careful. It's probably why I don't know too much more."

"You can't do it alone. I know you have people everywhere, but you couldn't and I know you wouldn't ask anyone else to look into it. You don't have the resources to do this."

"Like I said, I was planning on telling you. I wasn't trying to be a hero, Kate. I didn't think I'd solve this and save the day."

"I know. I know that, okay? But I don't want you to land up a martyr."

She brought her hands up to rub her face.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"I want you to understand that I need you to be safe, just as much as you need me to be safe. I want you to realize that I need you."

He nodded. "I'm sorry"

She knew he meant that he was sorry about this being a secret for so long.

"You have to promise me that you won't go and walk right up to danger. You can't risk your life."

"Kate – "

"No. It's non-negotiable."

He sighed. "Okay, I promise."

"I want you to come back."

Back at the precinct? Back to the case? Back in her life?

"I want to come back. What now?"

"Now we solve the case together, taking all due precautions. No more secrets. Besides that, we go back to the way things were."

His felt a tug at his gut.

"No more secrets", he nodded. "How far back?" he asked before he could stop himself.

She sighed and turned to him. They finally looked at each other and the honesty in both their eyes startled them. He held his breath. She turned her whole body and stepped in front of him. It was her move, she knew. He was still letting her take the lead. She raised her hand slowly and put it on his cheek. He turned his face towards her hand.

"You're crazy, you know that? You can be so stupid sometimes."

He shrugged. "I'm in –", he held himself, "insufferable", he said and smiled.

"Hmm. Yes, you are. I'm – insufferable too", she said, smiling.

He gave her the widest smile – the kind that made his eyes crinkle. She replied in kind. Suddenly he didn't look so careworn. Suddenly he looked young and – insufferable. He brought his hand to his face, to touch hers. She was subconsciously gliding her thumb over the prominence of his cheek bone, ever so gently, ever so slowly. He moved his hands to rest on her waist. He was still leaning on the desk. She stepped into the V of his legs; she moved closer to him – and closer still, till her body was flush with his. She leaned into his face as he closed his eyes, and gently nudged his cheek and then his nose with hers, teasing.

"I missed you", he whispered, "so – so much."

"Hmm", she agreed and he felt her hum vibrate through his body. "Too much", she said and then brought her lips to his; gentle, feather-light. He parted his lips, kissed her back, slowly enjoying the opportunity; enjoying her. She pulled back and sighed, "Not yet".

No getting used to it yet. All said and done, a lot had happened and they needed to work through it all. They needed the time; the control. They needed to hold back. "Not yet", he said as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, turned his face into her neck and dropped a kiss. "This okay?" he asked her in a whisper.

She nodded and held him tighter.

They didn't know how long they stayed like that in his study, they were too lost in each other to notice. They also failed to notice the gentle knock and the door opening.

"Dad? Dinner – Oh!", they heard Alexis say.

They pulled apart abruptly and Castle stood up. "Umm – yes. Dinner, right", he said dumbly.

"Sorry to interrupt. I didn't hear you –", she said.

"Uh – no, Alexis, it's alright. You didn't interrupt anything", Kate said with a small smile.

"Are you sure?"

Was she?

"Cause I can come back later", she finished.

"No, pumpkin, we're sure. It's dinner time. You want to help me cook?" Rick said.

"Course", she said, perking up.

Truth was that Alexis was worried about her dad. She was worried about Kate. Things were going so well for them and she'd never seen her father so happy. She wanted him to be happy. Though she had been angry at Kate after the shooting – because, how could her dad put himself in danger's way like that? – she understood that they were both doing what was needed to be done. They were saving the day, and frankly, they were saving each other. There was no denying that Kate would do everything in her power to keep her father safe. Who better to trust his life with than Kate? She could see that Kate cared about him as much as he did about her.

She looked up to Kate too and why wouldn't she? Kate had been through so much, lost so much; and yet she worked hard to protect and serve. She was smart and savvy, strong and brave yet she was conscientious and caring. Kate always made time for her, if she'd asked. She'd given her advice; good advice. She'd never asked anything in return and she'd never been nice to her as a means to get to her father. Yes, Alexis liked Kate, she always had. So when she walked into the study to see them like that, she was happy.

Castle turned to Kate and asked her, "Will you stay for dinner?"

"Only if I get to help too", she smiled. So did he. Partners.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Since jasnrob asked for some Ryposito time, I chucked a little in here. This chapter is more to tide us all over until I think of something better to write. :) Still hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

Chapter 11

"...And then there's Beckett", sang Ryan, while Esposito threw in a "Check it" before continuing his beat-boxing.

Ryan continued, "She misused a bracket. Richard Castle couldn't take it. More 'boom boom bish'-es from Esposito.

"He took his writer pen and made to scratch it. Nuh-uh-uh, Detective Beckett , no misdemeanor bracket!" Ryan said while waving his hands.

Castle could barely control himself. He was shaking all over with mirth and tears were flowing from both his eyes. "That was - terrible you guys! Terrible and hilarious", he choked out.

Beckett glared at the lot of them. This was ridiculous. All because she got distracted and forgot to close a stupid bracket in some paperwork she was filling.

"What?" Espo asked. "Come on, Beckett. It was kind of funny", he said with a chuckle.

"Don't you guys have work to do?"

"Ugh. Fine, fine. Don't laugh - even though we know you _want_ to. You're no fun, mom", Ryan said.

"Don't call me mom!" Beckett replied with narrowed eyes.

"Don't do this. Don't do that. Can we help it that you sound like a mom?", Espo said jokingly, turning to get back to his desk.

After getting back to his desk, Ryan yelled back to Castle, "At least you took it well, dad."

Castle smiled and turned back to Beckett, and instantly tried to hide his smile by pursing his lips at the look she gave him. "What? They're just having fun."

Beckett bit her lip, contemplating until she said, "You think I'm no fun?"

Okay. He wasn't expecting that. "I think you're plenty fun."

"But you'd still be the fun dad while I was the tough mom."

His insides were on a joy-ride, but he didn't let it show. "Well -", he shrugged.

It was probably true, but she couldn't help but look at it as a challenge. She was competitive by nature. "I could be more fun than you, Castle. I just don't because _someone_ has to keep _you_ in line", she smirked.

He snorted. "Please, Beckett", he said confidently, "You're no match for me. I'm the fun dad. Just ask Alexis."

"I'll do you one better. I challenge you to a Best fun parent show-down."

"Beckett, you're not even a parent", he said, clearly amused that she was making so much out of this.

She shrugged and smirked, "Ah see. You're scared I'll beat you. Even without me being a parent."

He mock-gasped. "Scared? Hah! Never! Bring it on. What are the stakes?"

"You get your Sunday with Alexis, and then I get one. Whoever has the Sunday she picks as being the funnest, wins."

"When I win, I want -", Castle began.

She interrupted, "If you win - "

"Fine. _If_ I win, I get to take you out on a date", he said, eyes sparkling.

"Castle - "

"Scared you'll lose?"

"No. That's fine. When I win - "

"_If_ you win", Castle corrected with a smirk.

"If I win, you do your share of paperwork. For a month."

"A _month_?" Castle said with a real gasp.

"Scared you'll lose?"

"Never! Still, a month of paper work sounds like cruel and unusual punishment."

"Castle, you write for a living", she said, bemused.

"I know. What's your point?" he asked innocently.

Of course Ryan and Esposito had heard the whole exchange which led Alexis to stomp her way up into the bullpen. "Did either of you bother to think about asking me about this stupid bet before you made it?", she asked with a mock glare.

"Oh, Alexis. You're right. I'm sorry -", Beckett began before Alexis cut her off.

"Don't worry about it detective. I'm sure he provoked you somehow."

"Thanks, daughter dear. Good to know whose side you're on."

"We don't have to do this, I guess it's stupid like she said", Beckett said, feeling guilty about dragging Alexis into it.

Alexis surprised her by saying, "NO! This is so happening!"

Castle beamed at his daughter and partly at the surprised look on Beckett's face.

"But I thought - you said", Beckett blubbered, confused. The Castles always had a way to surprise you.

"Forget what I said. No way I'm letting this opportunity pass me. Seeing you two compete against each other is going to be fun."

"That's the spirit, sweetheart", Castle said with a smile.

"Hah. Your sweet talk isn't going to help you win dad", she chided, but added a smile. "I'm going to be unbiased about this. So - make your plans guys. First Sunday goes to detective Beckett since she actually has a Sunday off. You get the next one, dad."

"Fine by me", Castle said. He got up and covered Alexis' ears while she tried to shake them off in indignation, and said, "Prepare to get your ass kicked, Beckett."

"Dad! You're hands are not earplugs, and I am not ten", she said, rolling her eyes.

Beckett laughed while Castle merely shrugged it off. "It's a dad thing."

Just then Gates entered the bullpen, making the rest of them suddenly drop their heads and pretend to work. "What's going on out here? What are you doing here ?", Gates asked.

" needed me to drop off some autopsy reports", Alexis said, while laying down a small file which she seemed to have conjured from nowhere, much to Castle's surprise. Then she turned and left them to deal with Iron Gates.

"Okay. Where are we on the case?" Gates said, getting them all to focus back on the drab, easy murder that they'd already solved, now only waiting for the uniforms to apprehend the suspect. Almost all of them were focusing on the case. Castle was busy focusing on the fact, that Beckett wanted to be the fun parent - amongst the two of them. He couldn't stop the eye-crinkling smile that lit up his face, even with Gates present. It grew even larger when he caught Beckett's eyes and noticed that she was trying hard to hide hers as well.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **I'm glad ya'll enjoyed the Rysposito rap.. (Mmmmm Rysposito wrap. Yummy.) Thank you all for following, reviewing, favoriting - as the case may be. I love you for sticking with me with this.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

Chapter 12

As the first Sunday approached - Beckett's Sunday with Alexis - she found herself getting nervous and she wasn't used to the feeling. She had always liked Alexis, right from the start when she had called Castle in for questioning for the first time. Alexis reminded Kate of her younger self. Of course, the blaring difference being that Alexis didn't seem to have a wild child phase. But she had a lot of qualities similar to Beckett in her younger days, and maybe even now. She wasn't loud and obnoxious like most of her peers at the time; she wasn't particularly drawn to partying or clubbing or anything of that sort - a good book to read in the comfortable confines of her room was a much better use of time.

Another blaring difference that came to mind was that Alexis was quickly approaching the age that for Beckett, had been a turning point. A turning point where everything turned upside down and inside out. She'd been forced to grow up at the very young age of nineteen. She had not been so lucky as to have her mom around to go shopping with; get relationship advice from; to keep her in check and to keep their family together. Rather than let these thoughts bring her down, like they did constantly - before the Castles came along; she let it strengthen her resolve to be the best she could from this end of the deal. She might still have the chance to enjoy all those things, just from the other perspective.

If Kate Beckett was given this chance; a shot to do it all the way she should have when she was growing up; hell - she wasn't going to screw it up. Forget the competition. She couldn't care less if she lost, not that she would let Castle know this minor detail, but she wouldn't mind a dinner date. Maybe she even looked forward to it; although being free of paperwork for a month also sounded enticing. She sighed, and set to work on a plan. Goal: Show Alexis a great time. Nothing more, nothing less. Anything else - winning or losing the bet - would be incidental.

* * *

><p>This particular Sunday morning was the best that Castle had had in a long time. He heard the ding of the bell early in the morning, and had no doubt as to who it could be. He rushed out of bed to answer it, hastily throwing on a robe on his present state of semi-undress. All he had on was a white t-shirt and boxers. As comfortable as he felt in them, he was sure she might not feel the same way - yet. He needn't have rushed after all, he realized, because Alexis was busy getting ready in her room. He answered the door to let her in and took her jacket.<p>

"Good morning, Kate", he said with an all too cheery smile.

How could he not be cheerful? There she was, the beautiful Kate Beckett, standing in front of him in a plain black t-shirt and skinny jeans, hardly any makeup on, looking him over - checking him out.

"Um", she cleared her throat, "Morning, Rick", did you just wake up?"

"Yeah. I didn't know you were coming this early". She blushed, he smirked. "Otherwise I'd have been ready - coffee and all."

"Hmm. I'm earlier than I said I'd be and it sounds like we still have time for coffee. You just gonna stand there and keep me hungry?" she said, batting her lashes.

Like she needed to do that. Like she'd have to make an extra effort to look adorable. He'd buy a damn breakfast joint for her if she kept doing this. He wasn't beyond that, he'd never be beyond her. Instead he said, "Of course. Just give me a minute, I'll brush my teeth and throw on some pajamas. Wouldn't want to distract you from your task today after all", he said as he rushed off to his room, not giving her a chance to reply. "Make yourself at home", he said over his shoulder, and then muttered to himself - almost inaudibly - "might as well practice from now".

Almost inaudible, to most people, but she was a detective. She detected the sound and much to her surprise, detected a smile growing on her face.

* * *

><p>As she heartily ate the breakfast, much to his delight, and drank the coffee he'd made for them, they heard Alexis saunter down the stairs.<p>

"Oh! Hi, Detective. You're here early! I'm sorry, if I'd known you were here, I'd have hurried up."

"Please, call me Kate", she smiled before continuing, "No need to apologize. Like you said, I'm here early. Come have breakfast with us."

For some reason, which Kate couldn't quite comprehend, Alexis was smirking as she came down. Once she took her food in her plate, she said, "Hmm. You're really early. An hour early. Funny, that", she said as she picked up a piece of pancake with her fork.

Kate blushed and Castle smirked. There was a lot of that happening already. He hadn't known just how early she was. This little detail warmed his heart. When he caught the red on her cheeks, and realized that her eyes were directed down to her now almost empty plate, he decided to change the topic. "So, do I get the points for this?"

"What, dad?" Alexis asked, puzzled.

"Points, for feeding you a delicious breakfast. You've got to have a point system to decide!" he said vehemently.

"What? No! Don't cheat, Castle."

"What?" he said with mock indignation. "I'm not the one who's cheating. You are! You're already off to a great start to the day, thanks to the breakfast which _I_ made", he finished with a smug look.

Alexis said reluctantly, "Well, he does kind of have a point. I mean, this is a good way to start the day."

Kate huffed. "No way. Then I get a chance to make up the points. On your Sunday, I'm coming over to make breakfast."

This time Castle huffed, "Fine."

"Fine", Kate repeated.

"Fine with me", Alexis said and muttered under her breath, "not that that's the point of it or anything."

After she finished, Alexis excused herself back to her room to get a few things before they left for the day. Castle took the opportunity and got behind Kate, who was still seated on the stool. He reached over with one hand for her plate, but then surround her fully, crowding her into the kitchen table and kissed her neck.

"Castle", she gasped.

"Hmm?"

"Alexis is up there."

"I know that", he said with a chuckle, "that's why I'm here", he said, planting another kiss at her neck. If that's all he could do for now, he was going to milk it. He felt her shiver against him, causing him to smile. "You're coming over to cook breakfast next week. Can't get enough of me, can you?"

"Can't get enough of your amazing daughter."

"Hmm", he hummed as he nuzzled her neck. And oh, did she ever feel it. He could tell that she was fighting off the urge to squirm, moving ever so slightly.

Suddenly, he backed away, taking her plate with him and depositing it in the sink. She looked at him questioningly, eyebrows furrowed. He smiled and nodded towards the stairs.

"I'm ready when you are, Kate."

"Great! Let's go have some fun", she said as she went to fetch her jacket.

"Bye, ladies", Castle said while walking up behind them.

"Have fun, munchkin. But not too much", he said with a wink.

"Beckett, I'll see you later. Don't get your hopes up too high", he teased as he took her jacket from her and held it out. "Maybe you could use next Sunday to pick out a dress."

When Alexis looked at him curiously, he clarified, "For our date."

"Uh-huh. I'm not worried about it. You should probably get some writing done. Practice for a month's worth of typing out reports."

"Pfft. Won't be needing it."

"Alright, alright. Jeez, it's like dealing with two you's", Alexis said while rolling her eyes at Castle.

He just grinned and waved to them as they left for the day. He was going to be writing, not that Beckett needed to know that. He'd been feeling more inspired by the day. Even more so seeing his daughter with his muse, his best friend, his - . His.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Heya guys. I'm back home now. Hopefully I should be doing more frequent updates again. Sorry it took so long to get this one out; made it a long one to try and make up. I hope you enjoy it. I love hearing your opinions. If you want to pitch ideas for Castle's day with Alexis, I'm all ears.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Castle or any other franchise you might come across while reading this. If I did, it would be a lot less painful right now.

Chapter 13

Alexis was a little nervous and a whole lot more excited about today. She liked Kate and hanging out with her outside of the precinct is not what the girl was used to. She didn't know what Kate was like, outside of the professional demeanor she always portrayed. Sure they had been seeing more of each other since the internship with Lanie had started, not to mention the increased frequenting of the detective at the loft, but it still seemed new and the slightest bit awkward. She asked Kate, almost shyly, "So detective Beckett, what do you have planned for us all day?"

"It's Kate", Kate said with a smile, "and you'll see", she added a wink.

"Okay." Alexis said as she wondered whether her father's declarations that 'Beckett is a Class-A tease' were indeed true.

Kate laughed. "You're as bad as your father! But you're not as obvious as he is."

"What?" asked Alexis, with a confused expression adorning her face.

"You're thinking, probably trying to guess what I'm up to, and you're doing it pretty loudly." Kate smiled.

"I'm thinking loudly?", asked a still confused Alexis. She was definitely not used to being read like this, by anyone besides her father. She was starting to see why Beckett is so special - so extraordinary.

"Yup. Don't worry, Alexis. I'll have you back home in one piece. Hopefully one happy piece."

"Oh. I'm not worried at all det – I mean Kate. Dad said you're heaps of fun."

"He did?" Kate asked, evidently surprised.

Alexis smiled. "Not now, I mean, not since this contest between the two of you because obviously that would be counterproductive. At other times though, yeah, he says it a lot.

Kate blushed. This was news. She knew how Castle felt about her since a long time; knew for sure for quite a while now too. She knew he spoke about her unabashedly, for instance – with the mayor of New York. That felt endearing enough but thinking about him talking about her to his daughter, mother – the people who meant the world to him. That warmed her heart.

They'd been walking in a comfortable silence till a few blocks from the loft. Kate briefly thought about how easy it was even with his daughter. Just like things were with him. To Alexis' credit, she was a lot subtler.

"We're almost there."

"Can you tell me where, now?"

"Yes. Now I will." Kate said with a huge smile. "This is where I get my tools."

Alexis looked at the shop they were heading towards. This is not what she expected. "Tools? Like – hammer-chisel tools? You brought me tool shopping?" She voiced, thoroughly confused.

Kate laughed. "Yes! I did. You'll be going off to college soon, you have to have your own tools."

"Oh!" OH! Uh? Oh?

Kate laughed once more at the picture before her. Apparently it brought her pleasure to leave the younger Castle speechless as well.

"Unless I'm mistaken, I assume you're going to live in a dorm. This is a necessity – unless you want to call your father every time you need to fix something. Besides, having some basic tools is never a waste. So I'm buying you a set."

Alexis really was speechless. Of all the things she'd imagined, this was not one of them. No one had cared or taken the time to think things through for her. Castle probably would have thought of this eventually, at the very last minute – probably trying to draw out the time that Alexis had to be away from home. Never had any one of her father's girlfriends thought about Alexis' well being to this level. Kate really was something else.

"Umm. Or we could skip it if you want to do this with Rick. I'm sure he'll –"

Alexis realized that she hadn't spoken for a bit. "NO! No. This is – I really appreciate it Kate. You don't have to buy it for me though."

"I want to. Consider it a birthday present if you want, but I want to do this for you."

Alexis blinked. Dumbfounded at what was going on. She just didn't have the words anymore, so she did the next best thing Castles do besides talking. She pulled Kate into a hug.

Kate was surprised for a moment, but hugged her back. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I am", Alexis said in a slightly strangled voice.

She pulled out of the hug and stroked the girl's hair once, "Let's get this show on the road then."

* * *

><p>Surprisingly it took them close to three quarters of an hour to choose the right tool-kit. Even more surprisingly Kate knew what she was doing. Well, that shouldn't be surprising, Alexis thought. She is a homicide detective after all – but still. Apparently "Kate is a mystery I'll never solve" was turning out to be pretty accurate.<p>

Once they were out of the shop, Alexis asked excitedly, "Where next?"

"First we put these in my car. I've parked close to here. And then we take a walk through the park, before going for lunch.

"O-kay", Alexis said skeptically.

"Here, you'll need this", Kate said, handing over a notepad and a pen to Alexis after keeping the tool kit in the car.

"I'll need this for - ?"

"To write of course", she was having fun with this. That was for sure.

They walked for a bit at the park, talking about all kinds of things – work, movies, theatre, sports. Finally Kate said, "This looks like a nice spot to sit", and continued to sit on the park bench.

"So, for lunch later, you're meeting some of my old friends."

"Oh. Okay", Alexis said, a little disappointed at this.

"A Harvard alumni, Stanford alumni, Columbia alumni. Rick said that you've been thinking a lot about different colleges and courses and things. I thought it might help to talk to people who know what they're talking about. He said that you've been stressing over it for a while, I'm hoping this helps a litt -"

What? WHAT? Now Alexis plain wanted her father to pop the question. What?

Before she knew it, Kate was being pulled into another, fiercer hug.

"I – Kate. I don't know what to say."

Kate chuckled. "With hugs like that, you don't have to say anything, Alexis. I get how important this is to you. My mom did this for me when I was young."

"Thank you. Thank you so, so much for caring."

"Don't you dare thank me for caring about you, Alexis Castle."

Alexis gave a watery chuckle and then pulled herself together. "So the notepad and pen are for –"

"I figured that we could jot down whatever questions you might want to ask them. It's best to be prepared."

Alexis smiled. It was scary how well Kate knew her without having known her.

They did note down a ton of questions, sitting on the park bench, busy in their own little world. Alexis was genuinely happy to have Kate's insights about things. When they all met up for lunch, Kate looked on proudly as Alexis charmed all her friends. It must be a Castle thing, she thought. She was glad - they both were, to be spending this time together. By the end of lunch, they'd exchanged numbers with Alexis, clearly taken with the enthusiastic girl who wanted to make a difference in the world. They'd all parted on a happy note after the lovely lunch.

"That was awesome."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Your friends are awesome. Will you thank them again for me, please?"

She chuckled. "Yes, they are. I'm sure they had fun too, but yes, I'll thank them again for you." She smiled. "I hope this helps to take away the stress, at least a bit?"

"Yeah. It does. Things are much clearer, and I feel better for it." She smiled. "I'd hug you again, but I don't want you to think that all Castles are crazy, obsessive huggers. We sort of have that reputation thanks to dad, and grams too."

Kate burst out laughing. "I bet. But, it's not the worst reputation to have. You Castles do give the best hugs."

"Had a few from dad, huh?"

Oh, she was good. Kate blushed. "Wha – No I meant. Martha –"

"Uhun."

She smiled. "Fine. Yes, I've had a fair share from Rick too."

"That's more like it. Dad's are the best!"

"Hmm. You do give him a run for his money."

Alexis chuckled. "Where to next?"

"Well, next I intend on steering you away from thinking about college, considering that this was supposed to be a day full of fun. We're going for a movie."

"Sounds good, but I promise I'm having fun, Kate. Which one?"

"The Hunger Games."

Alexis' jaw dropped. "WHAT?", she screeched. "You're taking me to The Hunger Games? Oh my God! Kate, I love you!"

She couldn't help but laugh at the zealous teen before her. It was a good idea after all. "Ah. I thought you might like it."

"Like it? I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I wanted to go for it but all my friends are busy so we never landed up making a plan and – geez I hope you'll like it too."

"If it's anything like the books, I'm sure I will."

Her voice was so high-pitched with surprise now, that Kate wondered whether it was more fun to surprise Castle or his gem of a daughter. "YOU'VE READ THE BOOKS?"

She smiled. "Yes, I have. I've heard Jennifer Lawrence has done a great job. I'm looking forward to watching it with you."

"You know who's in the – Kate, if my dad doesn't officially make you a part of our family, I will."

Kate turned the deepest shade of red.

Alexis' eyes widened. "I didn't – I meant – I didn't mean –", she spluttered.

Kate choked out a strangled laugh, "It's okay, Alexis. I know you're excited."

"I – yeah. Still, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I promise, it's okay. Let's just – not talk about it. The movie should be starting soon, so let's go find our seats." She said with a smile.

"Okay. Lead the way, detective", Alexis said, causing Kate to blush yet again. Alexis didn't understand why that made Kate blush. She didn't understand just how uncannily like her father she just sounded.

* * *

><p>"That was awesome."<p>

"Yeah it was! She really did do Katniss justice."

Alexis nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah! I thought so too. She's really funny in real life too. They are all. It's an awesome cast."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I've seen some interviews and things leading up to the movie. Thank you so much for picking this one! Did dad say anything about it to you?"

"Nope. I thought you might like it, but I wasn't sure. I was really hoping that you would like it though."

They both smiled. "What's next?"

"Next, we're going to go watch a play. A comedy."

"Great. I definitely trust your judgment now."

"Now? What, you didn't before?" Kate asked teasingly.

"Well – for a lot of things I did, but I didn't actually think you'd be _so_ much fun to hang out with. Let's just say that I thought my dad would win hands down. Now I'm not so sure."

Kate chuckled. "Good to know."

They did have a good time at the play as well. Both their sides were hurting from laughing too much. They had a quick, light dinner at the theatre itself during the interval. After the play, they were talking about it and were ready to head home. Things couldn't be getting any better, Alexis thought – until –

"Alexis!"

She turned to look at him, standing there with a girl.

"Ashley?"

"Hey. I – um, this is my girlfriend, Jane", he said awkwardly, "Jane, this is my friend Alexis."

Okay. Ouch. That stung more than it should. Kate stood by waiting, ready to jump in should it be necessary.

Ashley said, "Hi, detective Beckett", he turned to Alexis once she replied, "Is – is here too?"

Alexis would've chuckled if she wasn't sad.

Kate replied, "No, he's not. It's just the two of us."

"Oh –uh okay. Right. How's everything going, Alexis?"

"Everything is fine. I'm doing really well actually. How are you?"

"I'm good too", he nodded. "I –"

She noticed Jane, not-so-subtly nudging him.

"I should go, I have to drop Jane home. It was nice seeing you, Alexis. And you, detective Beckett."

Kate nodded and waved. After he was gone, she turned to Alexis and asked, "You okay?"

"Uh. Yeah. Let's head home?"

"Yeah, I think we can call it a night."

Kate broke the silence as they drove their way to the loft. "You might want to check in the mirror once before going upstairs", she said quietly.

Alexis wiped her eyes and gave a weak smile to Kate. "Thanks. I guess – I'm not so okay?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Alexis sighed. "I thought I was over it - over him. Apparently not. It's just, he was my first boyfriend, and at the time, I really thought it was something special."

"Ah. The first boyfriend is hard to let go of. But I promise you, you'll forget him like that –", she snapped her fingers, "- when the right guy comes along."

"I'm not so sure about that. Like I said, I thought I was over him."

"I'm sure. You just don't know it yet because the right guy hasn't come along yet. I won't lie to you, brace yourself, it might be a while."

That made Alexis chuckle and in turn, it made Kate smile.

"I hope he doesn't take too long. This isn't a very nice feeling."

"Tell me about it. But yeah, it'll be okay. Ashley, and any other guy who might not be 'the one' will pale in comparison when he does come alone. Trust me."

"I do trust you. Rationally, I know it's true. Thanks Kate, I do feel better." She said after a beat, "Is that how you feel with dad?"

Is it?

"Yes, Alexis. It's – yes."

"Good. I think – no – I know he feels the same way about you. And for what it's worth, I'm very happy about it."

"It's worth a lot. It means the world to him, and to me too. Thank you, Alexis."

Alexis smiled, noticing that the hard-core kick-ass detective in front of her might also turn into a blubbering puddle of goo if they kept this up any longer. "Let's head on up? Dad must be going crazy wondering what we've been up to."

"Hah! I bet he has. Let's not make him suffer any longer."

* * *

><p>"Finally!", Castle said dramatically, letting them in before they could even knock.<p>

"What took you ladies so long?"

"Hmm. Missed us much, Castle?"

"Yes."

The sincerity in his voice blew her away.

"Did you guys miss me?"

"Nope. Didn't have time to miss you, dad. We were having too much fun."

Castle smiled at Kate over Alexis' shoulder.

"Were you now? You had that much fun without me?" He pouted.

They both rolled their eyes.

"It was just one day, dad. Get over it."

"Ouch, daughter." He chuckled. "Tell me all about it."

They talked about everything she'd done all day right from the tool-kit shopping – which made Castle pout even more – up until their run in with Ashley.

"He should be glad I wasn't there. Rotten little –"

Alexis laughed. "It's okay, dad. He wasn't the one for me. But thanks."

"The one, huh?"

Kate smiled and looked away.

"Yup. I don't know about you, Kate. But I'm exhausted. I'm going to head on up and crash." She said as she got up to give Kate yet another hug, and then one for her father. "We should do this again soon. And this time dad should come with us."

"Ah! Thank you, baby bird. I feel a lot better now."

"Mhmm. Good night, guys."

"Good night", they replied in unison.

"Give me a minute, Kate?", he asked her.

"Sure."

He followed Alexis upstairs and knocked on the door to her room. "Come in."

"Hey, honey. You really had fun?"

"Did I ever? Dad, marry her."

"Oh wow. That much fun, huh?" He chuckled.

"Yeah. Fun and – she's the best, dad. She's really amazing. I see why you love her. I think I do too. Marry her, for real."

His heart may as well be a ball of cotton candy right now. He just sat there, stunned.

"Dad."

"I – yeah. I'm glad you had fun", he said as he headed to the door, "And Alexis, I fully intend to."

"You have my blessings."

"Means the world to me."

"That's what she said too."

* * *

><p>"You've completely won my daughter over. I shouldn't be surprised, but I really am."<p>

"Jeez, thanks for the confidence, Castle."

He chuckled. "I'm surprised at how completely taken she is by you."

"Really? I'm glad she had fun."

"Yes, really. She had tons of fun. I'm beyond happy to see _her_ so happy. Thank you, Kate", he said as he handed her a glass of wine and sat down on the sofa next to her. "And – she's instructed me to marry you."

She choked on her wine – thankfully a small sip. "What?", she managed to choke out between gasps of air.

He laughed.

"Not funny, Castle."

"Not at all. No, that's not true. It's hilarious."

"Har har."

"I told her I fully intend to."

"Huh?"

"To marry you. I fully intend to marry you."

Her eyes widened, all air whooshed out of her lungs. She said breathily, "Wow, way to go slow there, Rick."

He chuckled, then hummed and drew her into his side after setting aside their wine glasses. She leaned into him, head on his shoulder, arms on his arm which was wrapped around her waist. "It's the truth. It's a fact. Deal with it."

"Pretty damn sure of yourself."

She was trying to deflect but wasn't denying it though. Oh, how that made his heart leap. "Have to give my daughter what she wants."

"Uhuh. What she wants."

He smiled. "Yeah. She's pretty demanding."

"Wonder where she gets that from." She said with an eye-roll.

He sighed. "Kate."

Her name should not sound so good to her. "Hmm?"

"It really means a lot. Thank you", he said as he placed a kiss on her hair and held her even tighter.

"You guys really have to stop thanking me", she said softly.

"Nuh- uh. No can do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank –"

"Rick!"

"Hmm?" he hummed as she shifted closer to him. Closer still.

"Always", she said looking him in the eye, thumb caressing his cheek.

He couldn't not kiss her. Not when she's gone out of her way for his daughter, not after her daughter's fallen in love with her too, not when she's doing it because she cares, not when she's this close to him – letting him hold her, not when she's not refusing to marry him some day.

He has to do it – has to tuck the wild tendril of hair behind her ear, has to bring her face close to his, has to join their lips – and more. He has to kiss her like he never has before. The best part is – that she's giving as much back. He doesn't know what tomorrow will bring, doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't know when she'll finally head home for the night; doesn't want to think about that either. He doesn't know when he'll finally ask her, and what she'll say; though prospects are looking good, he doesn't want to think about that either. Right now, all he wants to think about is how he loves her, and she loves him. How they'll love each other, always.

**Post A/N:** So, yeah. The end got cheesy. That's just me, you should know by now. But come on! We need some of this considering what the episodes are doing to our poor hearts – and theirs. Leave a note? : )

Extra A/N edit: as I replied to a lovely review today I realized that the whole tool kit idea has been done before in a fic. I honestly didn't remember while writing this & was drawing it out of experience from my last year at college. But, I see how it can seem like plagerism, and I promise that wasn't my intent. That being said, intent or not, if you should be so kind as to point out what fic it's from, cause honestly I don't remember; and if you want me to either credit the person or take mine down, I shall oblige most willingly. I'd like however, for you to take a moment to think that it's entirely plausible for an idea to be recycled entirely subconsciously when fic writers do this thing. Still, I feel the need to apologize because it seems like the idea was planted in my mind when I read the source of it - whatever it was. Thanks for indulging me. Yours sincerely, Docnerd89


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Hi again! Sorry, it's been a while. I was lacking in time and motivation. I'd hinted that I might throw in a case, well here it is. Thank you so much for putting up with me, and sticking with this story. Thanks for the reviews, and alerts. Ya'll make my day! Leave me a note?

(Oh, and if you want, you can catch my other story that I'm co-authoring with klindsay, called "Road to Always".)

**Disclaimer: **Please. I probably have an ulcer the size of a moon-crater somewhere in my innards because I don't know what the heck is going to happen.

* * *

><p>Their mother was a tyrant – a selfish, sadistic, crazy old bat. A lot of people would describe their mother so, but in a more joking fashion. This was no joke; she was no joke.<p>

When they had migrated to the United States from a small town close to London, they thought it would be a chance to escape. But no, their mother made sure that she held them in the palm of her hands, and eventually – eventually they'd just given up trying to escape. Eventually they'd gotten used to being, for lack of a more appropriate word, her slaves; her caged birds. She was evil, pure evil. Her husband had been her caged bird too, but at least they had him to turn to when things got bad and when he died, which was shortly after the birth of their youngest, well – things just got worse.

So many years later, here they were, sitting at a round table in James' apartment. They were all finally plotting an escape. Well – not all of them, one was missing.

"Jimmy, you do realize that you'll have to come home for this?"

James Evans was the only one with an apartment of his own – with a life of his own. He'd been the only one to escape, but he loved his brother and sisters. So when they came to him, sought help, he didn't need much convincing. He had a plan. Maybe he'd help them even more than they thought. Maybe he'd help them escape without involving them at all. 'Family is all we have', he remembers his father saying. He knew that Joseph Evans had stopped including his wife in this as soon as he'd seen her for what she really was. As soon as the beauty had run out, as soon as the soft was replaced by the sharp; he'd seen her for what she was – evil.

"I do know, brother. For the sake of humanity, the prodigal son shall return."

Ginny pitched in, "Oh, come now, James. Do you have to be so dramatic?"

"Life is a stage, is it not? And we're about to run a _very_ entertaining play."

See the thing is, their mother was evil. They might have been oppressed by her and hated her to the core. They might have loved their 'good' father. But all said and done, half of their genes had come from her.

* * *

><p>Castle moaned and turned in his bed in the wee hours of the morning, stretching his right arm to reach his phone that was currently killing his fantastic dream. 'Ah well.' He thought. 'Might as well be speaking to the real counterpart of the subject of his dreams.'<p>

"You owe me one happy ending.", he slurred into the phone.

Her breath hitched. "What?"

"My dream, detective. You just crashed a fairy tail ending.", he could almost imagine the reluctant smile now gracing her face.

"What, did we ride into the sunset on a horse, Castle? You better have had clothes on."

"Oooh, I like that. Dept paid in full. What makes you think it was _us?_"

"I – Castle, we have a body. You coming, or do you need some more time to finish your beauty sleep?"

"Mmmm. Can't sleep anymore. I'd rather finish my dreams while I'm awake."

"That is what writers tend to do."

"Too true, detective. And I intend to do it with you."

Honestly, how was she supposed to function when he was being so sweet; aided by his gruff morning voice. "Ah, you intend to do it with me, Rick? Was that the subject of your dreams?" She heard him groan.

"Be careful of what you ask me so early in the morning, Kate. I find I'm more honest in the morning haze. You were the subject of my dreams. We were surrounded by friends and family. You had the most beautiful smile while you were walking towards me. Shall I continue?"

"Just get down here, I'll forward the address.", she said with a voice that was much steadier than the rhythm of her heart at this moment.

"Be there soon."

* * *

><p>When he got to the crime scene he saw that she was avoiding his eyes. She was biting her lower lip and trying quite unsuccessfully to hide her smile.<p>

"Hey. Good morning."

"Morning, Castle. Thanks.", she replied as she took her coffee from him and quickly busied herself in drinking it.

He smiled. "What do we have today?"

Esposito answered as he came towards the duo, "62 year old female, Poppy Evans, died of – I don't know what. She was a housewife; widow. The family is very, very well off, immigrated from somewhere in London years ago. They even have a butler."

"The butler did it!"

"Castle! Quietly please. The butler didn't do it.", Kate said, partly amused and partly annoyed. That's what he did to her. Oh, and partly – wholly? – smitten.

He eyed her seriously, "Beckett, it's the butler. He did it. How do you know he _didn't_ do it?"

"I don't. But you don't know that he _did_ do it."

"But – "

They heard Lanie clearing her throat. "Ya'll are so cute. But be cute later, would you? The rest of us have work to do."

"Sorry, Lanie. What do you have for us?"

"I have – nothing."

"Work to do you say?" Castle said, bemused.

"I'm armed with a scalpel, writer-monkey."

He turned to Kate and mock-whispered. "She's always so testy in the morning."

Kate had to bite her cheek to stop herself from laughing.

"Anyway. As I was saying, from the face of it, it looks like a heart attack."

"But?"

"No buts for now. I'll have more once I get her to the morgue."

"Okaaaay." Castle said, carefully wording his thoughts while looking for Lanie's scalpel. "Isn't it likely that she may have had a heart-attack?"

"It is."

This time Beckett said, "So we're here because?"

Ryan finally chimed in, carrying an evidence bag in his gloved hand. "Because of this. The old lady's diary. It says, and I quote, 'If I die soon, they'll finally have managed to kill me.'"

Castle said, "She could mean that they irritated her to death."

That earned him an eye-roll from Kate. "Really, Castle? Death by annoyance is what you're going with?"

"Did you not once say that I murder your patience?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"Ahem.", Ryan said while cutting them off, "There's more. She said that they've been acting strangely around her, and that they've tried to do her in, but she's been too smart for her children."

"Did you find any anti-psychotics in her medicine cabinet. And who are '_they_'?", Castle asked.

"Nope. I don't know yet. We'll have to read more. I did find a fitness certificate. Apparently she had regular health check-ups with her family doctor. The last one was just a couple of days ago, and she has no medical history of heart disease."

"Still, a heart attack can strike you quite suddenly, right?"

Lanie replied in the affirmative.

"Well, we have to check either way.", Beckett said, "Lanie, is there any reason that you think this could be anything but a natural death?"

"From my side? She has a cut on her tongue, and some saliva at the mouth, and her parotids are swollen."

"Which means?", Beckett asked.

"I don't know yet. Like I said, I'd like to get her to the morgue, run some tests."

"Okay, call us as soon as you have something."

"I know the drill."

Beckett turned to the guys and asked, "Living relatives?"

Esposito replied, "Two sons and two daughters. Jonathan, Ginerva, James and Jennifer. Jonathan is the eldest at 40, and Jennifer is 30, the youngest."

Castle smirked and said, "So Johnny, Ginny, Jimmy and Jenny?"

Both Ryan and Esposito scrunched up their faces.

"What about the butler? Castle, zip it or I'll zip it for you." Beckett said quickly.

"Oh please, zip it for me."

She blushed and smacked his arm with the back of her hand, and whispered only to his ears, "Rick, behave."

He whispered back, "Sorry, couldn't help myself. At least it's what I'd normally say?" He was getting so many eye-rolls today and it wasn't even lunch time!

Ryan ignored the two and chimed in, "Butler's name is George Denial. He's been working for them since before they moved here; moved with them."

"The butler's name is Denial?", Castle asked while rubbing his hands together and smiling in glee like the 9 year old he was. "Beckett – denial. His name is Denial! He did it! How can you deny it?"

This was going to be a long day.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Two updates in two days? SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! .. ;) Thank you guys sooo much for the reviews and for sticking with the story. I'm probably going to continue the pattern that I started with the last chapter: Meaning that it'll start off with the Evans' story and the second half will be our lovely Team 12th.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Castle. Honest truth. Straight face. From my heart.

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

"Johnny boy, are you sure you can get what we need? Make it look natural?"

"I can get what we need. I already have it. It's just a matter of time."

"Make sure to tell us before you put your plan into action though. Wouldn't want to be caught unawares."

"Of course, James."

Of course. Maybe not –definitely not. If he could try to keep his brother and sisters out of this, he was going to. He was the oldest, he'd suffered the longest. He's seen his siblings suffer and that in itself was a different kind of torture. He had to - he was obliged to do this for them, on his own. Family was everything. It was all he had.

He looked at Ginerva, now 38 years old. She'd been suffering for as long as he had. He'd always been protective of her - his little sister. All those years ago when she'd finally had the chance to escape, when she'd married a nice American man, he'd been so happy. He hoped that she would have the life they had all secretly wished for – A small white house, with a blue door. A white picket fence to protect the house aided by a family dog. A wife for himself, a husband for his sister and the pitter patter of happy young feet as they ran along the front porch. Alas, fate had it in for them. Her husband had died in a car accident – a drunken driver, hit and run they'd said. He sighed.

This time, he wouldn't let fate intervene. He couldn't help then, but he could help now. Jennifer was about to get married to a fine young lawyer friend of hers; have a life of her own. He didn't have his own kids but he'd be damned if he couldn't be the best uncle to his nieces and nephews.

* * *

><p>"It's prophetic. It's a self fulfilling prophecy, Beckett! He's going to deny having murdered -" He tried to vehemently argue his case as they walked around the Evans' apartment. One look from her and he stopped though. He rather liked his ears, and nose.<p>

"Espo, who was here when she died?"

"The son - Jonathan Evans, and the butler."

"Aha!" Castle started to say but turned it hastily into a cough.

"You okay, bro?", Ryan asked him. "I'd be happy to thump your back."

"No, no. I'm good, thanks."

"Okay, let's talk to the first and then the butler. Castle, behave or I'll send you out for a coffee run."

"Yes, dear.", he said with a pout, much to Esposito and Ryan's amusement and receiving yet another eye-roll from Kate. Man, this was a fun day.

The two of them walked over to where Jonathan Evans was giving his statement to a uniform. The uniform excused himself from there saying that he had everything he needed. "Mr. Evans, I'm detective Beckett, this is my partner, Richard Castle. You were here when it happened?"

"Yes. I was, it was awful. I was here when mother died.", he said calmly enough.

Castle wondered whether maybe it was the shock, but something seemed off.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Yes. It was about half an hour after dinner. Ginerva and James had just gone out for a walk because it was pleasant outside. George, our butler, was in the kitchen cleaning up for the night. I was in the dining room and mother was in the living room on the sofa, doing some knitting, I believe."

Castle looked at Beckett and back to Jonathan again. He thought that maybe she'd also felt something was off.

"Okay, then what happened?", Beckett asked.

"While I was looking over some patient reports on the dining table, I'm a doctor by the way, I heard some noises coming from the living room so I rushed in there and – and she was –"

The way he spoke; it seemed strange to Castle. It didn't look like he was struggling to put out words because his mother had just died in front of him, it looked more like he was struggling to figure out what was going on himself. He made a mental note to ask Esposito whether this guy was any good as a doctor.

Jonathan paused for a beat and then said, "It was strange. For a minute she just looked lost, and her pupils were dilated, but then they started constricting, and she threw her head back. Her head and neck muscles were taut. I checked for her pulse and it was through the roof. Before I could so much as move to call an ambulance, I saw saliva dripping down the side of her mouth tinged with a bit of blood and saw her jaw clenching. Soon her arms and legs started to move to, and I realized she was convulsing. It was over before I could have done anything about it."

"In your professional opinion, what happened?", Castle asked.

"I don't know.", he said, looking genuinely confused. "It wasn't supposed – I mean, it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before. I have no idea what happened."

Hmm. That was odd. But the last sentence he spoke seemed truthful enough.

"Okay, Mr. Evans, did you know about her diary?"

"No. I mean, I knew she kept one, but I don't know of its contents. But people around here are whispering, so I gathered that that was why homicide is here. I mean, she was 62 after all."

"Right. Well, I think that's all for now, Mr. Evans. If we think of anything, we'll contact you."

"Okay, detective."

They now walked towards the butler who was sitting on a chair at the other side of the room. As they walked, Castle asked her, "You're not going to ask the routine questions? Did anyone have motive, yada yada?"

She bit her lip before answering, "Hmm. Not yet. Something feels strange. It feels like we're missing a few important pieces. I'd rather have something substantial and then come back for questioning. It would be better if we actually knew what we're looking for from them."

"Yeah. I know what you mean. I got that feeling too. Butler next?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Castle. Butler next."

They approached George Denial and she saw that Castle was eying him like a hawk. She nudged him to silently indicate that he should get a hold of himself. As amusing as it was to him and yes, her too, there was a person who'd possibly been murdered after all.

"Mr. Denial" – God, it felt strange saying that. Like Mr. America, Mr. Universe, as if it was a title – "You were here when Mrs. Evans was having the episode?"

"Yes miss. I was."

Castle thought that funnily enough, the family butler with his crisp British accent sounded more 'proper' in the wake of a death, as it were, than the son of the family.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was in the kitchen, miss, cleaning up for the night, when I suddenly heard Mr. Evans screaming for me from the living room. So I rushed out and saw that Mrs. Evans was having something of a fit. I didn't know what to do."

"Then what happened?"

"Mr. Evans said to call an ambulance, as he was busy checking Mrs. Evans, I think. So I rushed off to find a phone. These cordless contraptions are never in their place, miss. By the time I found it and got back, Mrs. Evans had already passed and Mr. Evans was standing beside her. Then he took the phone and called an ambulance."

"Okay, Mr. Denial – "

"Please, call me George, miss."

"Okay, George, I think that's all we need to know for now. If we need anything, we know where to contact you." She started to walk away but then turned to him and asked, "What about Ginerva and James Evans?"

"Ms. Ginerva and Mr. James had gone for a walk just before all of it happened. They got back shortly after she passed."

"Okay. Thank you, George.", she said and turned to walk away. She saw Esposito and Ryan question Ginerva and James Evans, so she turned to face Castle and said, "Come on, Castle. Let's head in to the precinct."

"As you wish."

She smiled. Silly man-child. "So, do you still think the butler did it?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure. He doesn't seem like he just got away with murder. But he's the butler. There are_ rules_, Beckett."

She laughed. "I thought you loved breaking rules, Castle?"

"Touché."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **This case is really hard to write. Seriously!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Castle.

Chapter 16

Ginerva Evans looked across the table to her silent, contemplative brother. Jonathan had tried for all his life to make things easier for her, to make her life a little lighter. But ultimately, the darkness was all consuming – a black hole – it surrounded them, covered them, smothered them. When James came along, Jonathan and Ginerva tried their hardest to be the best older brother and sister to him, but there was no escaping. The same happened when Jennifer came along.

Actually, it was a tad bit easier when Jennifer came along, because George came along too. Of course, they – the elder Evans kids – were probably a lost cause by then. James, at the young age of six years old was more cynical than any child should ever be. He was so smart too, the smartest amongst the lot. It was not that much better for them at ten and eight years old either – they were children, but they were not. They were forced to grow. They had their father to try to make things right. Jennifer didn't have him, but strangely enough, just then George came into the picture. He was more like an uncle than a butler. They all agreed, George was like a second chance, a second candle after their father's flame had succumbed to the ultimate darkness. They were raised of course, to treat him as a butler, but they were all fond of him. He was their surrogate uncle.

Ginerva thought about all these things, all those days. Almost everything had been lost. Her father, her husband, the chance at a family of her own – her chance to escape this life, or lack thereof – yes, almost everything had been lost, but for her siblings. They were the only people who understood really.

She'd decided that her expertise in her field should be used for a good cause. Ridding the world of evil is a good cause, isn't it?

* * *

><p>She was pacing in front of the murder board. Castle noticed that every three turns she'd stop and glare at the murder board, like that would make it confess. How can someone be so adorable and incredibly sexy at the same time? Huh.<p>

Finally she came to a halt, leaning on her desk next to him, their arms touching. "We don't have anything. We won't have anything till the autopsy. We don't even know if this is definitely a homicide."

"Lanie said she'd get back to us as soon as she could, right?"

"Yes."

"And Ryan and Espo are looking into the Evans' financials, looking into motive, correct."

"Yes, Castle."

"So we'll have something by tomorrow. Take it easy and finish your paperwork from the last case."

She glared at him, but relented. "I guess that's all I _can_ do. I'll call the guys and tell them to come in directly after lunch and then we can look over Ginny and Jimmy's statements."

"Catchy names, aren't they? Johnny, Ginny, Jimmy and Jenny."

She bit her lip to try and control the smile. Lost cause.

"You want to grab lunch outside the precinct?", he asked hopefully.

She smiled and agreed with a nod and sat down to do her paperwork while he played angry birds on his phone. A few minutes into their routine, she thought she heard him humming the theme song for "George of the jungle", and she looked up, amused and annoyed – like only she could.

He looked up too, always attuned to her, and saw her eye-brow raised. "What?", he asked giving her an innocent look that she was definitely not falling for.

"Real subtle, Castle." She rolled her eyes.

"Nothing I ever do is subtle, detective. Don't you know that by now?", he asked with a smirk.

That low voice speaking words full of meanings would never fail to make her blush, or tingle, or shiver – or all of it.

He didn't miss the blush, at least. "And you like it. You love it."

She turned back to her paperwork, ready to finish it soon and have a nice quiet lunch with the impossible man. She said in just more than a whisper, "I do."

She had to look up when he hummed like that. A hum full of pleasure - and mischief?

He continued in a whisper so that only she could hear, "There's an order for that."

"What?"

"A sequence."

"What are you talking about?"

He smirked at first, teasingly, but then his smile turned tender. He slipped his hand to her knee and positioned himself so that no one else could see.

"First comes the key, so you start moving along with me. Then comes yours truly, down on his knee. The end, which will be a new beginning for me and you - that's when you get to say 'I do'."

She won't cry. She said in an unsteady, gruff voice, "Trying to be a poet, Mr. Castle?"

"Does it earn me brownie points?", he asked while wiggling his eyebrows.

She smacked him with the back of his hand – or she tried to, but he captured it and wasn't letting her have it back.

"Rick", she warned quietly, glancing around.

"One day, Katherine – and that day is coming soon – it won't be just words and rhymes. It'll be as real as we are."

She nodded and smiled shyly, "Okay, but Rick, your words have always been real to me."

He slid his thumb gently over her knuckles before letting go of her hand, and smiled. Progress. Real progress.

**A/N: **Yes, okay? It's short and it's sappy. I can't help myself! Gah. Leave a few words?


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N**: I wanted to put this chapter out today for you guys. Thank you all so much for the reviews and alerts. It means a lot to me that you all are still reading. Drop a line? I love hearing from you. Happy reading.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Castle. Dang.

Chapter 17

After their lunch break, Esposito and Ryan had returned from canvassing and were going to run financials for the rest of the day. They didn't come bearing much good news. From what they'd gathered from the neighbors, family friends, even the children themselves; Mrs. Evans was a crazy old lady who everyone wanted dead. Esposito even remarked that it was shocking, the amount of people who said that the world would be a better place to have gotten rid of one evil soul. None of them could explain exactly how or what Mrs. Evans had done to make her so 'evil' as everyone had claimed. They all had little incidences, short stories, long stories – Ryan had had to nudge Esposito awake during one of the latter – and they all said that she was the worst when it came to her children, even if they were children no more. Everyone, it seems, sympathized with the rest of the Evans'.

Much of the latter half of the previous day went by in a blur. Rick and Kate had parted ways early in the evening since they both had chores to finish at home. She'd been avoiding groceries and because she'd been having so many meals with the Castles, even her take out temple was surprisingly clean. There was that one jar that had some yellow stuff on top of which green stuff was starting to grow. Huh. She'd also been avoiding laundry and was running out of clean, crisp new clothes to wear even at work. Castle too had had to do groceries since he'd been cooking for one person extra, much to everyone's delight and had been busy with the case lately. What with Alexis being busy too, he didn't want to dump it on her. As for Martha – well – her grocery list would ultimately come down to a whole lot of clinking in the cart. They spent the evening apart, trying to be normal people, doing normal things and missing each other the entire while. Both of them consequentially came to the conclusion that their precinct routine – the one that sometimes entirely lacked routine – had become their normal. Their normal was just parallel parked next to the normalcy of rest of the universe.

It was good that they did all they needed to that day because the next day would have them completely drowning in the case and this included Alexis. Both Castle and Beckett went down to the morgue to ask Lanie about the latest and had found Alexis there too.

"Hey pumpkin!" Papa Castle exclaimed with glee.

"Dad! We're at work." she said while rolling her eyes at him.

He looked at Kate pointedly and said in a mock-accusatory tone, "You taught her that."

"Did I now? I bet she's been doing it for the longest time, you just haven't noticed it till now. Right, Alexis?"

"Yup! You should really pay attention, dad." Alexis played along.

"Hmpf. Dad? Shouldn't you be addressing me as Mr. Castle? This _is_ work, Ms. Castle.", he said with a pout.

"Oh, cut it out, you two." Kate chimed in.

"Come on, _dad_." she said with a smile and doe eyes so that he'd have to call it a truce. "Lanie has a lot to tell us about." Just as she said it, Lanie walked in with a bunch of papers in her hands.

"Isn't this the perfect family picture!" she said with a smirk and a glance towards Kate that made her blush.

"Hey Lanie! What do you have for us?"

"Well, surprisingly, the lab was comparatively free to run our samples ahead of a few less important ones." Kate did look surprised. There was always a backlog at the labs, but this lovely change was probably because they'd been hiring new staff and recently got new equipment. "I know, right? I was surprised to hear back from them so quickly. So, anyway, we've got a hit on a bunch of things. To start off, her heart didn't show any signs of an infarction – meaning that she didn't have a heart attack after all. But, there were signs of exertion of the muscle so I had them run a tox-screen and we found Digitalis in amounts that are not normal even _if_ she were taking prescription meds, which she wasn't."

"So it is a homicide after all!", Castle exclaimed.

"Looks like it. Thanks Lanie, we'll –", Kate said before her best friend cut her off.

"Hold on now, that's not all."

"It's never straightforward with us, is it?", Castle said ruefully.

Kate laughed and said, "Hmm. Nope. Never straightforward with us." Castle thought he saw a glint in her eye that made him think that even their conversations were never simple. There's always subtext. Never straightforward indeed. "I do tend to attract the strange ones.", Kate said before pursing her lips and staring back from an indignant Castle to a puzzled Lanie. "What is it, Lanie?"

"Here's the kicker, the digitalis in her system is higher than usual, but not enough to kill."

Alexis suddenly chimed in, "You do see, don't you? That she'd got to be killed?"

All three of them turned to her and she suddenly blushed. Before either Kate or Lanie had the time to process her sentence and ask her what she meant, Castle's face burst out into a huge smile and he extended his hand to 'feed the bird', which she shyly responded to.

"Does either one of you want to clue us in?", Lanie asked with a raised brow.

"Agatha Christie's 'Appointment with Death'!" Castle said gleefully, casting a proud look towards his daughter. "I can't believe that I didn't make the connection earlier. I've raised a genius!"

Alexis blushed.

"Castle – ", Beckett started in an impatient tone.

"You see, the plot of the book revolves around a family – the mother and her grown up, yet dependent children", Castle started in his best story telling voice, "The family is on a vacation of sorts, traveling to Egypt, I believe. The mother was a tyrant who had kept everyone under her thumb; on a tight leash as it were, and they were completely helpless until – one day when she suddenly dies. The protagonist of the story, Monsieur Hercule Poirot – one of my favorite characters by the way – is inclined to think that it is no natural death, but a murder, and sets about to solve said murder in twenty four hours even though he cannot yet provide evidence that it was a murder after all."

Lanie looked fairly confused, but he could see Beckett catching on. She turned to Alexis and asked her, "So you put it together after you heard about Mrs. Evans being a tyrant herself?"

Alexis nodded and said, "The line I quoted is the first sentence in the book. There are more things that made me think of it though, like the fact that she had a daughter named Ginerva, and more importantly, it turns out by the end of the book – "

"SPOILER!", Castle yelled loudly enough for all of them to have to cover their ears and scowl at him. "What? Jeez, I try to save the integrity of a book and look at the thanks I receive.", he mumbled out.

Kate rolled her eyes, "Go on, Alexis."

"Thank you. The murder was by poisoning - and the poison was digitalis."

Lanie piped in, "And one of the kids had killed her?"

"Uh. No.", Alexis said, "It was this random politician who had a connection to the victim."

"Oh, that's right.", Castle said softly while rubbing his hand on his jaw as if trying to make it fit with their crime scene. "I guess we could look into Mrs. Evans' past?"

"I guess we could start with that.", Kate nodded. "Good job Castle junior.", she said with a smile.

"Thank you, but it might turn out to be nothing.", Alexis said softly and added, "I thought Detective Ryan was Castle junior?"

"Has Javi been telling you stories while he's been down here?", Lanie asked while chuckling.

"Maybe.", she said with a smile much like her father's.

"Javi's been coming down here a lot, has he?", Castle asked with a smirk.

"Don't you have work to do, writer boy?", Lanie asked as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Writer Man." They both said simultaneously. Kate blushed profusely and started towards the door in an almost-sprint and Castle grinned happily and followed suit.

Once they left and the door closed, Alexis turned to Lanie and said, "It's really creepy when they do that."

"Tell me about it.", Lanie replied.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **You guys are still reading and still sending in reviews and I still love you all. Thank you for over 40 reviews. Ya'll rock!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Castle.

Chapter 18

"Writer Man, huh?", Castle asked as he almost jogged to keep up with her.

"Shut up, Castle.", Beckett said while blushing.

"You know what happens in Agatha Christie novels, don't you?", he changed topics to give her an out.

She stopped abruptly so that he collided with her and had to hold on to her to steady both of them. "Oomph, Beckett, your elbow knocked the wind out of me", he said while rubbing his side.

She gifted him with an eye roll, which he expected of course. But then his breath hitched because she swatted his hand out of the way and gently caressed his side. "Did I really hurt you, Rick?"

"Hmm? N-no, not. I'm okay", he said and he covered her hand with his as she rubbed her thumb across the spot on his side.

But she suddenly took her hand back and swatted him on the chest, turned around and said, "Too bad."

"Ow! Hey! That did hurt. What was that for?"

"_That_ was for what you were about to say", she replied as they made their way back to her desk.

"Uhun, I was just going to say that they catch the killer."

"Well duh, Castle. That's kind of the point of a whodunit. That is _not_ what you were going to say", she said.

"Yeah-ha. Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"It is not. What did you think I was going to say?"

"You were going to say that the butler did it."

"Aha! Made you say it!", Castle said triumphantly while waving his joint hands in the air.

"I said that _you_ were going to say that. That doesn't count as me saying it."

"Does too!"

"Castle!"

"I'll go make some coffee", he said as he stood up, "cause this calls for a celebration."

"Castle! I am not conceding."

"Whatever you say, detective."

When he came back with the coffee, she was looking at the murder board and seemed to be deep in thought, so he sobered down, offered her the cup and nudged her with his shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"Thanks", she said as she took the cup from him and flashed a smile before going back to looking contemplative. "Just – at least we know it's definitely murder. We know that there was an attempt on her life by using digitalis as a poison, but it's not what killed her. So essentially, we still don't know the COD."

"Lanie is still looking into it, right? We'll get something.", he said hoping to reassure her.

"I guess. Poisoning makes it lean towards a woman."

"Women's preferred murder weapon", he nodded but then added, "But hey, isn't Johnny a doctor? It would have been easy for him to get the digitalis. It's a drug used for some sort of heart condition, right?"

She sat up straighter and handed the empty cup back to him. That was quick. 'She's definitely a coffee ninja', he thought.

"Right. That's an idea. We'll take a look at what the guys have from the background check.", she said.

* * *

><p>Just as they were finishing up with a number of per functionary calls, Esposito and Ryan came back and stopped near Kate's desk.<p>

"Please tell me you have something for me.", she said.

They turned to each other, smiled and puffed their chests out. 'Boys', she thought and tried to curtail her eye-roll. Her eyes were starting to ache, what with all the exercise they'd gotten thanks to Castle.

Esposito started with what they'd gathered so far, "Everybody hated Mrs. Evans. Literally everyone. She made it a point to make everyone around her miserable. Anyway, long story short, we found out that she'd been eating at home since the past couple of months. So the only way for her to have ingested that poison, would be through the home cooked meals."

"We also contacted Jennifer Evans, she said she'd come down here soon.", Ryan said, "She wasn't home for all of that week because she was staying with her fiancé to iron out some wedding plans."

"James Evans hadn't been living with them for long. He had shifted out to his own apartment years ago and owns a Pest-control company of his own. He'd just come back a couple of months ago and tried to make amends with his mother. She seemed to have accepted him back. According to what we've heard though, it wasn't out of love, it was out of the chance to taunt him that he couldn't survive in the real world on his own."

They all considered what they knew so far as Beckett made the necessary additions to the murder board.

"That leaves any one of Jonathan, James, Ginerva or George.", Castle said.

"Okay, you guys go ahead, get Jonathan Evans to come down here. Figure out if he had the means to get the digitalis. We'll take Jennifer."

"As you wish, boss. Speaking of whom, here she is.", he said nodding to the lady who was standing and looking unsure in the middle of the bullpen."

Castle and Beckett led her into the interrogation room and introduced themselves. To their surprise, Jennifer cut straight to the chase. "How did she die, detective Beckett?", she asked.

"It's still under investigation, but it looks like she was poisoned."

Jennifer nodded, looking sad but not all too surprised. "You're looking for a motive."

She stated it so plainly and casually, that Castle and Beckett turned to each other, surprised.

"I'm a lawyer, as I'm sure you know, and I'm family. I, while fully understanding the consequences, am going to tell you the contents of mother's will."

Beckett nodded, not wanting her to change her mind.

"All her fortune, property, everything she owns, gets equally divided between the four of us, under the condition that we were living with her at the time of her death and still living in the same house for at least a year afterwards. She's also made a small provision for George, as was a customary practice from her hometown."

Castle noted aloud, "That's a strange clause."

"She was a strange woman. It's probably her way of creating a feud between us after she was gone. Now that she is gone, I mean."

"Is it likely? For there to be a feud?", Castle asked.

"I – I don't think so, but she obviously did. We've had our fair share of sibling rivalry, Mr. Castle, but we've always had each others backs because ultimately we only had each other. Mother was never pleasant to any of us. The Evans brothers and sisters had no option but to lean on each other for support."

He nodded. This sounded like a really bad soap opera. Such things happen? It's a sad world.

"Ms. Evans, James hadn't been living with you all until recently; is that right?"

"Yes, but he came back and surprisingly, mother allowed him to. Or well, it was surprising initially. Later her motivations were clear. She kept taunting him about how he had deserted the family and left his brother and sisters to look out for himself selfishly. She kept 'harping on', as he would say, about not being able to achieve anything worthwhile in the world, not having a family of his own and that we were the only family he'd ever have because no one could love him and such."

Castle winced and said, "Not to speak ill of the dead but, your mother seems to have been wretched."

"She was. We learned to live with it. Anyway, is that all you need from me, or may I go now?"

Beckett said, "One last thing before you go. Do you also still count as part of the will, since you'd not been technically living in the house at the time of her death?"

"Hmm. Well, yes. I was going to come back tomorrow anyway. I was just staying with my fiancé because we had a lot of things to work out for the wedding. But all my belongings are still at the house, and I was going to return, so I do technically live there."

"Okay, thank you Ms. Evans. You're free to go. If we need anything else, we know where to contact you."

"Thank you, detective. Uh – I know, what it means, but murder is still murder. It's still wrong.", she said as she got up and left the interrogation room, leaving the partners still sitting there.

Castle said, "She knows it had to be one of them."

Beckett nodded and rubbed a hand across her face. "They were, are? – obviously close, so it must be eating away at her."

"Hmm. I wonder – ", Castle said before her ringing cell interrupted them

"Beckett", she said. A lot of humming and few sentences later, she finally looked up at Castle and said, "Hold that thought, Castle. That was Lanie. We've got our C.O.D."

"And?", he asked impatiently.

"It's a poison called cicutoxin. It was part of her gastric contents – part of the food she ate."

"Ah! And the food was cooked by -?", he smirked and she rolled her eyes.

"The butler.", she said. "One word, Castle, and I'll pinch you so hard you won't feel an-"

He stopped her with a fiery, hot kiss but pulled back too soon for either of their liking. Not that she would admit it. "What?", he said with a sheepish smile, "I didn't say anything."

"Precinct rules!" It sounded less stern than she'd intended it to.

He shrugged. "Everyone's busy right now. Let's go, Kate. We have a murder to solve."


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **Did I make this too confusing? Do you have suggestions for me? I'm all ears. Um. Eyes. I'm all eyes! Doesn't have the same ring to it. Hmm. *shrugs*. I had an unusually large amount of time and peace to write this in. 19 was written right after 18, so at least I hope there aren't any continuity issues.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Castle. Not since the last time you've checked.

Chapter 19

Esposito and Ryan had brought Jonathan Evans in for questioning. After Castle and Beckett told them what Lanie had found out, they asked if they still should go ahead and interrogate him. The fact was that there was still a large quantity of digitalis in the system, so Beckett told them to continue with that interrogation. They told the uniforms to bring George Denial in for questioning.

While Ryan and Esposito were still questioning Jonathan Evans, they saw Lanie striding in towards them. "Hey Kate, Castle.", she greeted them.

"Hi Lanie, what are you doing up here?", Beckett asked, surprised.

"What, a girl can't come visit her best friend?", she said as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Hmm. It's not her best friend she's come to see. Come on, dish.", Beckett said with a smile.

"If you _must_ know, Javi and I are grabbing dinner later, so I thought we'd head out together.", she replied with a smile. "Is he still working?", she asked.

"Yeah, he and Ryan are interrogating a suspect. They won't be long though.", she said.

"It's already dinner time?", Castle asked. As if in reply, his stomach growled loudly and both the ladies in front of him, laughed.

"I guess that answers your question, Rick."

"Rick, huh?", Lanie asked.

"Javi, huh?", Beckett replied, unwilling to back down.

"Anyway, so this is the guy who gave him the food?", Lanie changed the subject deftly.

"No, he's the eldest son. The butler probably made and gave her the food.", Beckett replied.

"Then why are you interrogating him?"

"Because of the digitalis. Johnny is a doctor. We're just covering our bases."

"Okay. I wonder actually, if it might have been an accident."

Both Beckett and Castle turned sharply towards her in surprise, "What do you mean?", they said simultaneously.

"Cute.", Lanie said, clearly amused. "It's just that plant from which the cicutoxin is produced, well, you could mistake it for sweet potatoes."

"Oh!", Beckett said, taking in the new information.

"But, it couldn't have been an accident.", he said while looking at Lanie, and then turned to Beckett. "She's the only one who died. It was meant specifically for her."

"Well, Lanie, looks like Javi and Ryan are done, and here comes George Denial. I'll call you later." She turned to Castle and said, "Let's find out, shall we?", Beckett said.

"Lead the way, detective.", he answered, "and see you soon Dr. Parish."

They directed George Denial to the interrogation room and joined him shortly after first having a few words with the guys. Jonathan Evans, naturally, denied having anything to do with her death, and since they didn't have evidence, they couldn't hold him.

"George, it seems everyone hated Mrs. Evans, but none more than you. Why'd you do it, George? Were you tired of waiting for the money you knew you'd get once she was out of the way?"

"I didn't even know that she _would_ give me money, miss. I didn't kill her."

"Who cooked the meal?"

"I did."

"What did you cook?"

"Lasagna, Mashed sweet potatoes, gravy and french onion soup."

"Strange combination.", Castle said and earned himself a look from Beckett. But it was strange. Whatever.

"And how is it that only Mrs. Evans got to eat the potatoes?"

"Why are you asking me about potatoes?", he asked, genuinely confused.

"Those weren't sweet potatoes, Mr. Denial. What you fed her, was a tuber from a plant known as 'the spotted water hemlock'. It secretes a poison called Cicutoxin, which is what killed her."

George Denial's face blanched. "I wasn't sure, but he said –", he stopped abruptly and looked at Beckett. "I didn't kill her. Everyone hated her, you're right. She was evil. But I didn't kill her. Mr. Jonathan and Ms. Ginerva both hate sweet potatoes. That's why I made the Lasagna. I would have eaten it myself if I had any appetite left after what happened. I just threw it out. I didn't know it was poison."

"You said that you weren't sure, but he said. What were you going to say Mr. Denial?", Castle asked.

"I – nothing. I wasn't going to say anything. This is all I have to say, you can either believe me or not. I want a lawyer."

"You're hiding something, Mr. Denial, and until I find out what that is, I'm keeping you in custody."

"Do what you have to, detective."

They got out of interrogation and Kate instructed some of the uniforms to keep George in custody. This was certainly turning stranger by the minute. There was a good chance that George was telling the truth. He may not have known that the sweet potatoes were actually the poisonous water hemlock. He did say that he would have had it himself, but the fact was that he didn't. No one else did.

"Something doesn't seem right.", Castle finally said.

"I think so too, but I can't put my finger on it.", Beckett agreed.

"Well, we can try to figure it out tomorrow. How about I take you to Chez Castle for dinner tonight?", he asked while wiggling his eyebrows.

"As long as you don't plan on feeding me sweet potatoes."

"Healthy food? Psh. No way." Castle grinned.

They had a lovely, intimate family dinner at the loft – pizza – no lasagna, or sweet potatoes for them for a while, thank you very much. They came back the next morning determined to figure out what was amiss. They'd been standing in front of the murder board, trying to analyze every aspect of the case. That's when the call came in.

"Beckett", she replied as usual, followed by a loud, "What? Where? Okay, bring it in."

"What's going on?" Castle asked her.

"Jonathan Evans was found this morning, he hung himself and left a letter.", she said.

His eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Yeah. It's a confession letter."

"Didn't see that coming.", he said, still surprised. "I guess the butler didn't do it."

"Maybe next time.", she said with a small smile.

He returned the smile, "They're bringing in the letter?"

"Yeah."

"Is it definitely a suicide?", he asked.

The question didn't surprise her. She wondered too. "Yes, definitely. Perlmutter examined the body, it's definitely suicide. Ginerva told them that it was his handwriting too."

"Okay."

Later when a uniform handed over the letter, they both peered over it as Beckett read it aloud.

"_Dear Ginerva, James, Jennifer and our ever-faithful George. I'm sorry that it has come down to this, but this is the way it must be. For the benefit of the police, I would like to state that I, Jonathan Evans, am responsible for killing my mother. I was the one to have placed the water hemlock in our kitchen, I was the one who had obtained and used the digitalis, and I am the one to have used the rat poison. She was an evil woman, but I have come to realize, that I must have inherited some of that evil to have wanted to kill her, and then have done it. I cannot live with that knowledge, anymore. I cannot let my family live with the brother that killed their mother. But I cannot live without them, and so I cannot live at all. _

_My dear Jennifer, I want you to get married, get away from the darkness that clouds this house and live a happy life._

_Ginerva, I wish I could have protected you. I hope you know how much I love you. How much I love you all!_

_James, I hope that you take this chance, and live the life we always dreamed of._

_George, thank you for everything you have done over the years for my brother, sisters and me._

_With that, and the hope for a better life if ever I am reborn. I bid you all goodbye, and leave you with all my love."_

"Wow."

"Yeah."

Castle said, "Wait a minute."

"What?", Beckett asked him, her brows furrowed.

"Lanie didn't say anything about rat poison."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Ah! I'm glad you all (assuming that you're still reading this) liked the last chapter. Okay, so this one may seem confusing at first, but just go with it. Hopefully it'll make sense. Who died after watching Undead Again, and then the U.S. Promo? OMG! OMG! I was flailing and pacing my room and had this smile-scowl-smile-scowl-smile thing going on. Immediately after the promo, I held my breath for – I don't know how long. OMG!.. That is all, carry on.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Castle.

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

_A month before James was set to come back home, Johnny and Ginny visited him again. They were nervous, and agitated. _

"_We can't do this Jimmy.", Jonathan said._

"_You want to pull out now?", James said, trying to hide his rage._

"_He's right, James. It's too dangerous, and it's just wrong. For whatever she's done, killing her isn't the answer."_

"_You're both cowards.", he snapped._

"_Jimmy, think of Jennifer. What it'll do to her; what it'll do to us all.", Jonathan said._

_James calmed down. "Right. Yes, of course. I – you're right. For whatever it is, it's wrong. I can't believe we even took it so far."_

_Jonathan sighed, relieved. "It was a dark phase, Jimmy. It happens. It'll pass. We'll be okay as long as we have each other."_

* * *

><p>Castle said, "Wait a minute."<p>

"What?", Beckett asked him, her brows furrowed.

"Lanie didn't say anything about rat poison."

* * *

><p>"Maybe they missed it." Beckett said.<p>

"They got a hit on a poison like Cicutoxin, but they missed rat poison?", Castle asked skeptically.

She agreed. It didn't make sense. "Hmm. Let's call her." She dialed Lanie's number, and waited for her to pick up. "Hey Lanie, we had a quick question for you."

"_Sure, shoot."_, came Lanie's quick reply.

"Did you find rat poison in his gastric contents or blood work?"

"_I don't think so, but let me just check quickly._" They heard some rustling of papers from the other end and Lanie was back, "_Nope. No hits on rat poison, and yes they checked. But I've got some new reports here, and there's one more poison in the mix. It's active ingredient is from a plant called 'Cerbera thevetia', more commonly known as 'Yellow Kaner'. There were about ten to fifteen small seeds. Those along with the water hemlock, left her no chance_."

Castle and Beckett looked at each other, understanding dawning in their eyes. It took her a minute to see where Castle was going, but she was there with him now. That's how they always were - always on the same page. Always catching on to what the other said without actually needing to say it. Always having the same twinkle in their eyes. Always knowing they would stand together. They were always meant to be soul mates; now that they knew it, they knew it would last. Always.

"_Uh – guys?_"

"Yeah. Thanks a lot, Lanie. We'll catch up later.", Beckett said as she cut the call.

"I think that we should have another chat with dear old George.", Castle said with a glint in his eye.

"I think you're right. Let's go, Castle."

"You said I'm right.", he said with a playful smirk.

"Oh, get over it, Castle. I've said it before.", She said, rolling her eyes and collecting her jacket.

He shrugged and took her jacket from her, holding it out for her. "I know. I still _love_ to hear you say it."

She turned around and slipped into her jacket. As he took his sweet time to right the collar and move her hair back, she smiled and asked, "Are you going to point it out every single time that I say it, Rick?"

Rolling her 'r's? Oh, she was playing dirty. Well, he could too. "Oh, no, no, Katherine. I'll save it from now on, for – ", he paused to add effect, "- _special_ _occasions_."

She should be rolling her eyes, but it was a little difficult what with trying to control the shiver running down her spine. "Let's go, Castle. We have a murderer to catch.", she said in a steady voice. Thank God.

* * *

><p>"I'm not speaking to you without my lawyer present.", George Denial said as he sat calmly in his holding cell.<p>

"You don't have to talk unless you want to. You do, however, have to hear us out.", Beckett said.

He nodded curtly.

"You heard what happened to Jonathan.", Kate said as a matter of fact. Word travels quickly around here.

"Yes. I – ", his curt demeanor cracked to a soft, sad one. His voice was strangled and clearly he couldn't continue.

"I'm sorry for your loss, George."

"Thank you."

"Do you know what he wrote in his suicide note?"

"No, miss. I don't think I could – ", he said softly, unable to meet her eyes.

"He wanted you to. He left you a note of thanks.", she told him as she handed him a copy of the letter.

He took it with shaking hands and looked at it sadly. He teared up as he read it.

"You understand what that means?", Kate asked gently.

"Yes. But I can't do it."

Castle said, "From the new lab reports we got today, we found another poison. Another toxin. One that came from a plant."

George looked at him with wide eyes.

"George, he's ready to let it all fall on you, maybe on Ginerva too. Jonathan gave his life to try to save her one last time. You can't let that go to waste.", Kate said trying to urge him to tell the truth.

"What's your story, George?", Castle asked. His eyes met Kate's questioning eyes. He tried to show her through them, to wait. There's always a story.

George took a deep breath, straightened up and answered slowly, "Joseph was my brother. He and I were blood brothers; best friends as we grew up. He was much older than me. He looked out for me, always had my back. We fought like siblings do, and one day, it was one fight too many. One fight too big and I walked out on him. I walked out on all of them. So you see, why I identify with him? Why I'm finding it hard to give him up?"

"Yes, George. But you're going to?"

"For Ginerva, yes.", he said sadly.

"Tell us the rest of it.", Castle coaxed.

"We hadn't been on talking terms when he died, but he'd left me a letter with his lawyer. When I read it, I realized what the reasons for that fight were. He was trying to protect me from a bunch of my so called friends, and the way he went about it, I felt humiliated at the time. He pretty much saved my life by humiliating me, and I never had the chance to thank him for it. When I heard about his marriage, his children – what kind of a mother she was and wasn't for them, I thought that could be my redemption. I changed my last name to 'Denial', from Evans, and I got the job as their butler. I did my best to protect them from her. Sometimes I failed, but mostly, I'd like to think that if I couldn't shield them from her evil, at least I could be there with them for it."

"He's not like you, George. He's not like Joseph either.", Kate told him.

George Denial knew this. He nodded. "I'll tell the truth. But please, don't tell them that I'm their uncle. I might want to do that myself."

Kate and Rick agreed. They told a uniform to release him from custody and to take down his statement. Now they just had to get the right guy.

* * *

><p>"Why did you bring my client in, Detective?", the lawyer asked.<p>

"To get a confession. Make the process easier.", she said as she sat back in the chair next to her partner in the interrogation room.

"He's not going to confess, because there is nothing _to_ confess.", he said.

"Okay, then we'll all just have a civilized little chat, won't we?", Beckett said through her teeth to the lawyer.

Castle scooched over to the edge of his seat and placed his joined hands on the table. "Tell me, did you taunt Jonathan? Did he know which one of you actually did it? Did you lie to him and tell him that it was Ginerva?"

James Evan's eyes were wide, just for a second. But the second was enough for Castle and Beckett.

"Why is _he_ even here?", his lawyer asked Kate.

"He's consulting.", Beckett said with a smirk.

"You see, Mr. Evans, Jonathan's letter pretty much solved the case for us.", Castle told him.

"My brother wouldn't incriminate me, and besides, I've read the letter. In case you missed it, he wishes me well.", he said with a smirk of his own. Funny how the resemblance to his mother stood out right now.

"You're right. He probably wouldn't incriminate you intentionally, but incriminate you he did.", Beckett said.

"He wrote that he was the one to have used the rat poison. Obviously, our first thought was that he'd have to get it from you."

The lawyer interrupted, "He could've gotten it from anywhere. Just because my client owns a pest control company, doesn't mean that Mr. Jonathan Evans couldn't have gotten it from outside."

Beckett shot him a glare. "The thing is, there wasn't any rat poison in her system."

James spoke over his lawyer's protests to keep quiet. "Maybe he was distressed while writing that letter."

"I really doubt that.", Castle said.

"Well, Mr. Castle, this isn't one of your stories. Your doubt means nothing."

"His doubt means a whole lot", Beckett said without flinching as she laid a hand on Castle's knee and withdrew it. "But, that's not all we have. See, your loyal and faithful George loves this family, more than you do, it seems."

"Hah. What does my butler have to do with anything?"

"He found it odd, didn't he? Being the butler, he realized that it wasn't your garden variety sweet potato. _You_ told him that it was just a new hybrid, out in the market, which is why you bought it to try it out. Jonathan and Ginerva didn't like sweet potatoes, and you would know not to consume it. That left just your mother, and the dispensable butler, right?", Castle said confidently.

Beckett picked it up. "In fact, you hoped that George would have it too, so we would have no source of evidence. If the poison ever _was_ found, you'd pass it off as an accident. Only, all of it worked a little too quickly, didn't it?"

Castle started again, "You tried to pin it on Jonathan and Ginerva. You used the digitalis, but you got the dose wrong. As for the yellow kaner seeds; Ginny being a botanist, obviously it would point to her."

"But Jonathan _knew_ that he didn't use the digitalis. When we questioned him, he realized that it had to be either you, or Ginerva.", Beckett said.

Finally James gave up the ruse. He laughed. He laughed a manic laugh, with malevolence shinning through his eyes. "The fool. He didn't even know for sure." His lawyer watched dumbly with shock all over his face.

"You came back to live with them. You needed, or maybe just wanted the money. But you knew about her will, you _had_ to be living in the same house. That's why you sold the other apartment, to seal the deal technically. The return of the prodigal son. It was a smart plan really; kill two birds with one stone. Death of the evil mother, pushing the siblings out of the picture and clear your name from the blame."

"Hah. He made it even easier. Dear Johnny - always trying to do right by his brother and sisters. I didn't outright accept that I did it, so he thought that I was protecting Ginny. Preposterous!" He laughed once more. "It didn't take much of a push, you know. He'd always been on the verge of depression. Long ago, we all gathered together at my apartment, to figure out a way to end the old bat. Only, Johnny couldn't go through with it then and so even Ginny backed out. But I stuck with the plan. I thought about it for long after that, and I made it even better."

Beckett signaled the boys to come in and arrest James Evans. They had everything they needed. Ryan slipped the cuffs on while Esposito quoted the Miranda rights. Just as they were about to leave the interrogation room, Castle asked James, "What about Jenny?"

For the first time, a look other than cold and calculating passed his eyes. "What about her?"

"You didn't try to get her out of the picture. You didn't try to frame her."

"We all loved Jenny.", James said.

With that, they arrested James Evans and finally laid the case to rest. Kate and Rick visited the Evans' resident and told Jennifer and Ginerva everything that had happened. To say that Ginerva was shocked would have been an understatement. Jennifer listened through it all while silently shedding tear for the loss of not one, but two brothers.

"Why didn't he try to involve me?", she asked in a small voice.

"He just said that everyone loved you."

Jennifer broke down into Ginerva's shoulder while her sister told her that it would all be okay some day.

* * *

><p>Rick sat on her desk, watching as she cleared the murder board, slowly and surely. Then he watched her as she came over and put everything case related into a box.<p>

She smiled, very aware of his staring. It used to irk her. Now she felt like it protected her, gave her strength. "Staring, Castle.", she said as if reprimanding him, but her smile and their knowledge gave her away.

"Can't help it. You're very beautiful.", he said sincerely.

She blushed. "Don't you have to go get things set up for your day with Alexis?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get the hint.", he said with an exaggerated sigh as he stood straight and took his jacket. "You just want me out of here and you want me to leave you alone."

She chuckled and leaned into him. He shut his eyes. She wouldn't kiss him at the precinct. Well, she'd done it before, but in a room, with no one else around. She wouldn't kiss him in the middle of the bullpen, though it _was_ almost empty by now. Right? _Right?_

He was right. She didn't kiss him. She leaned in closer to his face, with her mouth at his ear and whispered, "Never." As if that wasn't enough, the tease, she pressed her teeth gently into his ear lobe and then stepped back quickly.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and looked at her in awe as she closed the box.

"We could leave together, Castle. I just have to get these down into storage.", she told him.

He took the box from her, still looking at her like she was an angel who was sent from heaven. Nah, far too seductive for that. Maybe she was from another planet. Yeah. A planet with hot, intelligent, long legged, teasing, gorgeous women. How'd it get so hot in here? And where did she go?

She was already walking towards the elevator. "You coming, Castle?", she asked knowing full well that he would.

"Yeah! Yes. Of course."

Of course. Of course he would follow her.

"So, Castle. The butler didn't do it."

"Well, technically he _did_. I mean, he is the one who made the mashed sweet potatoes and gave them to her. So he did do it. Whether he meant to or not is immaterial."

She snorted. "That's weak, Castle, even for you."

"Hey, now! Who're you calling weak?"

"You must have a hearing problem."

They went back and forth, all the way down to storage, all the way in the car, all the way home. But who cares? He certainly didn't. She never wanted him to leave her alone.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Yeah, one more note. Okay, seriously, I don't like to beg, but…. Please tell me what you thought. Pretty please with _cherries_ on top? :D


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **I am sorry for the lack of updates. After chapter 20, I was too hyped for Always (and for good reason, eh?) to write anything and after it, I was too – uh – lost in bliss to write anything. But here's the last chapter – I don't want to drag it out and make you suffer through reading meaningless stuff. Thank you for your patience, and for sticking with this. There are a few throwbacks in this chapter and I hope you catch 'em. : )

**Disclaimer: **I own Castle in Never-gonna-happen-land.

Chapter 21

Johanna Beckett always woke up early. To Kate, she seemed like supermom. Not only did she work as a full time lawyer, making sure that justice was served, that truth conquered all; but she also made a lovely breakfast for Jim and Kate so that their day would start out on a good note.

The best part about the breakfast wasn't the delicious waffles with the cherry sauce from Johanna's family recipe book; it wasn't the pancakes with fresh blueberries or strawberries, it wasn't the banana smoothies, nor was it the bacon and eggs, the perfectly buttered crunchy toast – nope. All those things were great, but none were greater than the beaming smile and good morning kiss that Johanna gave to her husband and daughter's foreheads.

"What's the case today, mom?" An eager, pre-law, eighteen year old Kate asked her mother.

"Oh, you know, sweetheart – putting the right people behind bars, getting the innocent out."

Jim grunted.

"What?", Kate turned to her father and asked.

Her mother answered, "It's nothing, Katie. Your dad just has a 'bad feeling' about this case. It's silly."

"My feelings are silly?", Jim asked. Kate would have thought that he was hurt, but for the smirk that he couldn't quite contain.

Johanna patted his cheek, "Of course not, Jim. They might be a little girly, but they're wonderful."

"Hey!", he huffed indignantly, causing Kate to giggle. "Turning my own daughter against me.", he looked at the two best women in his life and pouted.

Kate patted his head while still laughing and Johanna gave him a kiss on the cheek, essentially ridding him of everything but the sheepish smile now held on his face.

"Mom, how do you have the energy to be so – so – perfect? You cook us this massive breakfast, go to work, come home and cook us dinner and you always smile through it all. I get exhausted just with college."

Johanna cast a glance to her smiling husband, turned to her daughter and said, "Both of you are my source of energy. I can do what I do because I love you and your father."

* * *

><p>Kate came over early with a bag full of supplies in one hand while she used her other hand to knock on the door. She heard the shuffling feet coming towards her and so she smiled ready to wish him a good morning. Rick yanked the bag from her and set it on the table next to the door while she got in. She was just about to comment on his eagerness when she felt herself being pushed to the door and kissed thoroughly – so thoroughly that she forgot what she'd come for as she grabbed his shirt with both her hands and kept him anchored to herself; as she felt nothing beyond dueling tongues and nipping teeth; as she gasped for breath when his mouth left hers and sought her neck and jaw instead and hurriedly, hungrily returned to her mouth again. He slowed down the kisses and after one last chaste kiss, wished her breathlessly, "Good morning, sunshine."<p>

Her eyes were closed and she took a minute to get her throat to work, "You don't say."

He chuckled.

"What was that for?", she asked, still a little breathless from that kiss.

He held her face with his hand as his thumb caressed her cheek. He didn't answer her, couldn't answer her – what would he say? _Thanks for making a commitment to my daughter and then keeping it? Thanks for showing up to cook for my family? Thanks for making my daughter so happy last week that she practically asked me to marry you? I love that you showed up? I love that you care? I love you?_

But maybe he didn't need to say it, maybe she understood it from his eyes, and maybe she said as much with her eyes too. _Thanks for always being there, thanks for sharing your daughter, thanks for making me a part of this. I love that you always show up. I love that you waited for me. I love the coffees that make me smile. I love you too, always._

He took a deep breath and a step back from her, "She's upstairs getting ready. What's in the bag?"

"Supplies.", she said mysteriously as she handed him her coat, took the bag and headed to the kitchen.

He hung up the coat and joined her. "Want help?"

"Mm.. No, it's my turn to cook."

He smiled. _Yeah, we'll take turns. That's a good idea._ "I know, but if you want help finding stuff – you know, pots and pans, I'm here."

"I know where everything is, Rick.", she said while rolling her eyes. "Detective", she said pointing to herself, "Remember?"

He smirked. "Fine, fine. Here I am, trying to be helpful, but fine – if you don't need me, I'll just sit here and do what I do best."

"Participate and annoy?"

"Har har, _detective_. Nope, I'm just going to stop and stare.", he said as he did indeed, stare into her eyes till she blushed and looked away to get started with cooking them a breakfast. "What are you making?"

"Hah. You can't just wait patiently, can you?", she said with a raised eyebrow.

"How long have you known me?"

"Too long.", she said. His smile dropped. "And not long enough.", she bit her lip from forming a smile that would match his.

"It will never be long enough.", he said softly.

She nodded.

They heard Alexis coming downstairs. "You're good at deflecting."

"I've had practice."

"Hmm.", he answered her and then turned to give Alexis a bear hug. "Good morning, Pumpkin."

"Morning dad, Kate!", she said happily, "You made it."

"I said I would.", Kate said with a smile.

"I know. But – you actually did.", Alexis said shyly.

Kate looked at Rick questioningly, but he just shook his head.

"What's for breakfast?", Alexis asked.

"I'm glad you asked. We have – "

"Hey now! I asked! You didn't answer me.", he pouted.

"Dad.", Alexis elbowed him. "Don't be rude."

Kate laughed. "I'm making a Johanna Beckett special.", she said with a small smile.

Alexis smiled and Rick looked shocked. "Um..", he said, unsure of what else to say. His gir- his Kate was making them a special breakfast.

"My mom used to make the best breakfast. On special days – and sometimes just out of the blue, dad and I would walk into the kitchen to the most delicious, perfect breakfast. She used to make pancakes, waffles with her special homemade cherry sauce, banana or chocolate smoothies, toast, bacon and eggs."

"Wow. Did she make it often?"

"Often enough. It always made us so happy, but somehow, it made her happier."

"You're happy.", Rick pointed out.

"I am.", she said as they stared at each other for a minute. Then she turned to the eggs, bacon and pancakes that she had going simultaneously on the stove.

A while later, after learning all about her week in the morgue and college acceptance letters, Rick took out the plates and Kate served them all breakfast.

"Oh my God.", Rick moaned.

"I know!", Alexis said after taking a bite of each. "This is delicious."

"I didn't know you cooked so well. So, so, so well."

Kate smiled indulgently.

"Kate, you have to give me the recipe to your cherry sauce.", Alexis said appreciatively.

"It's a family recipe – ", Kate started.

"Oh – ", Alexis said but Kate cut her off.

"So of course, I'll give it to you."

No sooner did she say the words than Alexis bounded off her chair and gave Kate a big, long hug which she returned. Kate could have sworn she heard a small sniff. "Thank you."

She looked over the girl's shoulder to Rick who also looked suspiciously teary eyed. "Always." He nodded and smiled.

After they were all done with breakfast Kate got up from the stool, ready to clean up but Rick and Alexis insisted that they would do the dishes. She waited for them to be done and then got up from the stool again.

"You're going?", Alexis asked with puppy dog eyes.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Rick, as if he put her up to it. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged as if saying, 'it's all her'. "Yeah, Alexis. It's your day with your dad, have a great time." She pulled Alexis in for a hug, placed a soft kiss on her forehead, much to everyone's surprise. Then she walked over to Rick, stood on her toes and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. She could have laughed at his shocked expression – Alexis did. It was the first time she'd kissed him in front of anyone – the first time that she acknowledged them as _them_. Once the shock had abated, it looked like Castle Christmas had arrived early.

He was dying to say that he loved her – that his kid loved her too – but he'd wait. He'd wait because so much good came from waiting for so long, what's a little while longer?

* * *

><p>Once she left and Rick and Alexis got over the whole ordeal that to some extent – seemed surreal to both of them, Rick turned and rubbed his hands together. "Prepare to have the best – day – EVER.", he said excitedly.<p>

"Bring it on.", Alexis said with equal enthusiasm.

A little while later, Alexis watched with an amused smile as Rick ran like a little kid into each bedroom and came out with blankets and pillows. After he finally sat down for a minute to catch his breath, she said, "Dad? Aren't we a little old for blanket forts?"

"Old?", he huffed. "You might be old, but I am not. You gonna come help or what? Unless you've forgotten how to build the best fort. I guess I can do it by myself.", he said as he moved some chairs around and deliberately slowly started climbing on one of them.

"Hah. Move over, dad. I'll show you how it's done."

"That's the spirit, baby bird!", he said proudly and got off the chair.

They spent nearly an hour covering every surface with blankets and bed sheets and arranging pillows. They even made a maze inside the fortress which Rick dubbed 'The fortress of Castletude", in which, amazingly, it was probably possible to get lost. They even took it all the way to the stairs, so that if anyone would want to go upstairs, they'd have to pass the maze to get there. There were detours to the kitchen and Rick's study though. They attached fairy lights to the 'roof' with paper clips, bob pins and string so that part of the maze looked magically lit up. They set up Alexis' laptop in the 'theatre room' of the maze and got the first 'Harry Potter' movie and 'Tangled' to watch together. Rick had made popcorn – some caramel, some cheese – to eat while watching along with the tub of cookie dough ice cream which they would share.

After nearly five hours of rolling around with laughter in the blanket fort, while watching the movies, Rick excused himself to go to the bathroom while Alexis took the empty bowls to the kitchen and crawled back inside. It was taking him a little too long, so she peeked out only to be startled by a loud noise. "Dad!"

"You snooze, you lose, soldier.", Rick said as he blew on imaginary smoke coming out of his laser tag gun.

"Oh, I'm going to get you back for that.", she said as she started strapping the gear to herself while Rick ran around the fortress and into the kitchen after turning off every light on the way so that the only remaining source of illumination were the fairy lights from inside the fortress.

Another hour and a half later, during which Alexis beat Rick by a large enough margin to leave him pouting and swearing 'sweet revenge', they were back in the kitchen preparing lunch together.

"What are we making?", she asked with a smile.

It made him immeasurably happy to see her so happy and carefree – his little girl, his little princess. He wanted to lift her into his arms and cuddle her and tell her stories about Santa Claus and the tooth fairy and the hunky superhero author by day, vigilante by night – which he might've made up when she was younger and oddly resembled himself – he wanted to turn back time and raise her again and see her now; be proud all over again for the wonderful person she had turned into.

"Dad?"

"Hmm. Right – uh. We are making something completely new, that we've never tried to make before. If it goes south, we'll order in, but let's be optimistic. Are you up for it?"

"Up for a challenge? Of course!", she said happily. "What's the first recipe?", she asked while eying the marshmallows and large bottle of soda.

"Coca cola cake."

She crunched up her face in disgust. "Daaad."

"Aleeeexiiis", he mimicked, "come on, it's good. I've tried it."

"You think smorlettes are good.", she said accusingly.

"You don't?"

She made a 'duh-face'.

"Fine, fine. But this really is good. You'll love it. Besides, what happened to taking up the challenge?"

"Hmm. I guess we could try it. Okay, hand me the recipe. We'll start with the next one after putting this in the oven."

"That's the plan."

After they finished the first half of the recipe and set the cake to bake, they moved on to the next recipe. Alexis laughed as she saw her father putting his dough covered fingers all over the next sheet and sheepishly wiping it off. "Here, let me. So, the next recipe is 'Deep fried mashed potatoes'?" she said with a raised eyebrows, looking scarily like an intimidating Beckett. Huh.

"Everything tastes better fried?", he gave her a toothy smile.

She shook her head admonishingly, but had a large grin, "You'd better work all of this off, dad. Your arteries aren't getting any younger."

"Gee, thanks for putting things in perspective, lovely daughter of mine.", he said with a pout and then with a smile he said, "I'll work it off. No worries."

"Mhmm. Is there anything else?"

"Yup. The last recipe is 'Weird Spaghetti'."

"Why is it called weird?", she asked, looking wary already. He handed her the recipe and after reading all the ingredients she looked up and said, "This uses apple cider vinegar and cocoa powder. Really?"

"Yup. We're laying off the cloves though. What are you waiting for? Get started, chef."

"Oh-kay.", she said, still wary about their food. At least the fried mashed potatoes sounded relatively normal.

After laboriously cooking their way through the three recipes, and applying the coca cola frosting, they finally started to eat what surprisingly turned out to be a good late lunch.

"Wow. This isn't half-bad.", Alexis said as she finished the last fried mashed potato ball.

"Isn't half bad? It's awesome!", Rick declared.

Alexis laughed. "Okay, I concede. It's pretty awesome. Let's have the cake."

"May you never doubt the culinary wisdom that your father possesses, ever again."

"You still invented smorlettes."

"Hey. I stand by those. They're an acquired taste."

"Which only you seemed to have acquired."

He chuckled as he dished their cake which also turned out good.

After they finished their lunch, both of them sat inside the fortress, clutching their stomachs and groaning.

"Might've eaten a little too much.", Alexis said.

"No kidding. You'd give your dear old dad an artery or two, should I need in the future, right?"

"Sorry, dad, no can do. I'm already saving my liver for grams."

That made Rick chuckle and groan more.

They sat playing cards for a while and later when they could move normally again, they were fencing up the stairs and through the study – during which Rick may or may not have broken a vase which he glibly shoved to a corner before moving on.

Another round of cards was followed by a small pizza dinner – given that they actually did finish everything they cooked for lunch but for a small amount of cake they saved for Kate. They both sat exhausted on the couch after moving part of the fortress off of it.

"So, pumpkin, had a good day?"

"The best, daddy.", she said and hugged him on the couch and remained cuddled to his side.

"I'll miss this."

"Columbia is practically around the corner, dad. We can have special father daughter days just like this."

"I'll hold you to that.", he said with a sad smile.

"Likewise. Maybe next time we can have Kate join us too."

"I'm sure she'd like that."

"Yeah.", she said shortly, and then moved off him, "Dad?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

"You guys are serious?"

"I – yeah. We are."

She smiled. "I'm glad. She's good for you. And me. She's good for us."

He positively beamed. "You said so last week too."

"I stand by it. I see why you love her."

"I do."

"She loves you too."

His eyes lit up. "You think so?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Well, duh."

He chuckled. Yeah. "She's supposed to be on call today, but I told her to call me in case a body dropped. Not that I'd go – just to know, you know?", he rambled.

Alexis smiled. "Uhuh. Did she call?"

"No. I guess she must be at home."

"Do you want to call her over? I can announce the winner.", she said with a smirk.

"Oooh. Just remember how much your poor old dad – who you're abandoning for college – loves you more than anything in the whole wide world."

She laughed. "Sure, dad. I always remember that.", she said seriously, and then added with a smirk, "but you're not winning by default. Besides, I have a plan. One that you may be interested in – ready to lose for even."

"I'm listening."

* * *

><p>It was nearing eleven at night but Kate came over anyway. Truthfully she missed them both and wished that she could be there, spending the day with – with her family. So she came over to find the living room covered in blankets, but for a small amount of space on the couch and one remaining empty chair on which she sat.<p>

"Wow. It looks like you guys had a good time.", she said with a smile.

"It's been a great day.", Rick said as he came out of the kitchen carrying cake for her. "Here."

"We cooked today.", Alexis grinned.

"Oh, what kind of cake is it?", Kate asked as she dug her fork in.

"Coca cola cake.", Rick announced with an even bigger grin. She paused with her fork midway to her mouth glaring at it and Rick in turns. "Oh, come on. It's good. Would Alexis make you eat something gross?"

"No, but you might."

Alexis giggled. "It really _is_ good though."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Meh. You trust her more than your own partner.", he said and showed her his tongue.

Kate rolled her eyes and chewed happily. "Mmm. It's good."

"Toldja", Rick said.

"Don't gloat, dad."

"I'm never going to win again."

"You can bet on it.", Kate said while giving Alexis a high five.

Rick grumbled but his smile gave him away. He couldn't have been more delighted.

"So, what's the verdict? Who's the winner?", Kate asked after she finished her cake and set the plate down.

"The winner is…", Alexis started.

They heard a drum roll coming from Rick. He shrugged, "I have an app for that."

They both rolled their eyes.

"The winner is…"

Again he started the drum roll.

"Dad!" "Rick!", he heard simultaneously.

"What? Stop saying it from the start."

Alexis narrowed her eyes at him. "… is Kate."

"Darn.", Rick said.

"Aha!", Kate said as she rose up and hugged Alexis.

Rick pouted. "No dinner date."

"And a month's worth of paper work.", Kate announced happily.

"Oh, ouch. I know how much he hates paper work.", Alexis said with a conspiratorial smile.

Rick continued pouting but he couldn't care less. A month of paper work was a small sacrifice for this and what was coming.

Alexis said, "But that's not all. You get a prize, for winning."

"Oh – Alexis, you don't have to – ", Kate started.

" – I do. I want to. Both of us do.", she said, looking at her father.

Kate eyed Rick and her suspiciously. "Both of you do? What did you put her up to?", she asked Rick, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Hey now,", he said as he raised his hands, "it was all her idea."

"What happened to team effort?", Alexis rolled her eyes. "But, yeah – it was my idea, I brought it up, though both of us want it."

"Okay.", she said slowly. "You've got my interest piqued."

"This is your prize.", Alexis said as she handed over a blue velvet box.

Her eyes widened and she looked like someone slapped her.

Rick chuckled and looked at Alexis, "See? I told you. Hand it over.", he extended his hand to her.

"Wha - ?", Kate asked as she saw Alexis handing over five dollars.

"Sheesh.", Alexis said, shaking her head.

"I know her, Alexis.", Rick said, still ignoring the stunned, silent Beckett sitting on the chair besides the couch.

"Yeah, but I thought she'd at least wait to see it, or wait for an explanation. Ugh. Nevermind.", she finally looked over to Kate. "Umm – Kate, breathe."

She did as she was told and released a huge breath causing Rick to chuckle more till he stopped abruptly when she turned to glare at him. He stopped chuckling and smiled instead, reaching out for the box which she was holding like a lifeline.

She slapped his hand away. "Don't you dare – Richard and Alexis Castle, you tell me what this is."

Alexis was shaking with laughter next to him, and trying to conceal it, somewhat unsuccessfully.

"Kate, relax, please? Open it. It's not a ring. Not tonight.", Rick said calmly.

Her eyes widened even more making her look like a deer caught in the headlights, before taking a deep calming breath and finally opening the box. She'd try to stay calm and not punch Rick to a pulp for Alexis' sake. It wasn't a ring. It was a key.

"You didn't buy me a car, did you?", she said wearily.

He chuckled once more. "No, these are the keys to the loft."

Her head snapped up to him.

"We're not asking you to move in yet, Kate.", Alexis said, trying to help her father out.

"Ye –"

"We want you to keep that, in preparation for when that day comes.", she said.

"And it will come, Kate. Consider that a promise.", Rick added.

"You – you're – but this is as good as – ", Kate spluttered. Frankly she didn't know _what_ to say.

Rick held her hand and looked her in the eyes. That alone did wonders to calm her down. "I – both of us", he looked at Alexis before turning back at her, "we missed you today. We kept wishing that you were here with us to enjoy the day."

"We want you around more often, Kate. We want you to be a part of this family. You already are."

Kate was always good at holding back tears – or that's what she thought anyway. How could she, right now? How could she, when she was practically being inducted into the Castle clan?

"We spoke to mother too. She called me lazy.", Rick said, trying to lighten the mood.

Kate got up from the chair and awkwardly hugged them both and placed kisses on both their foreheads. Alexis hugged her back and then moved so that Rick could get up and hold her while she tried to stop shaking and crying.

She didn't even have the words to thank them, but from Alexis' watery smile and Rick's tender one, she didn't need to. When she wiped away the last tear, Alexis asked her about work. There hadn't been a call today, but she had gone in to the precinct anyway because Gates had asked them to help Karpowski's team with a hard case which they weren't making progress on.

Finally Alexis said, "Wow, Kate. You're always dressed to kill, your wit is always razor sharp, you work almost all the time, you catch killers; put up with him", she pointed to her dad who looked mildly affronted, "and you still made time for us today. I don't know how you have the energy."

She smiled widely before toning it down and letting go of Rick so she could turn to Alexis fully. "Both of you are the source of my energy. I love you and your father.", she said before being swept into hug and kissed by Rick.

"Castle – Alexis is right here.", she said as she tried to push him away.

"She doesn't mind. Alexis, cover your eyes."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't, but I think I'll give you guys some privacy.", she said and ran up the stairs.

"Rick! You scared your daughter away."

"Shush woman! She's fine. I've waited forever to hear that. I love you too.", he said as he attacked her with another kiss – and another – and enough to make her never want to leave this family – her family.

~_Fin_~

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay, so.. I like leaving it, at least in part, open ended. And frankly, I can't write smut to save my life. So I hope this fluff is good enough. Let me know? This is your last chance to review for this story, ya know. *Hint, wink* .. Haha, just kidding. It's been an awesome journey. I wanted to end Prophets with a prophecy – ish. Hope you guys enjoyed the ride.


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